To wonder why being un-pc is seen as something to celebrate?

[magicmummy1]

yes, yes, we've all heard the stories about pc gorn mad, but we don't usually describe someone as "un-pc" just because they talk about Christmas or because they sing bah bah black sheep.

The people who are usually described by this term tend to be those who have made remarks that others consider to be offensive. Am I alone in wondering why a propensity to upset and offend people is considered by some to be such a virtue? Please enlighten me! What is so great about being "un-pc"?

(and yes, this is a thread about a thread, in case anyone is wondering)

[pinkthechaffinch]

I wondered the same thing too YANBU

unashamedly bigoted is not a virtue IMO, which is what 'being un PC' really boils down to

[pinkthechaffinch]

I went for a job interview once, in a small business where both owners proudly described themselves as non-pc.

I should have walked out then and there.

But no, I got the job and they both made my life hell for 6 months with their casual homophobia, racism and bullying.

[magicmummy1]

Sounds grim, pink. :(

[ajandjjmum]

But pink, don't you think there is a mid-way somewhere - where you're neither a bigot nor pc (in the gone mad way!)?

[magicmummy1]

But people who are not pc in the "gorn mad" way are just normal. Those who are actually described as un-pc have usually said things that others find offensive.

[pinkthechaffinch]

I just think un-pc comments and jokes are usually at the expense of someone else- can't think of an example where being un-pc isn't tbh

I'd hate to be like that.

I am straight and white by the way. But my ex- employers still offended me with their vile attitudes towards others.

[Riveninside]

Being 'pc' is just managing not to be offensive and to think what comes out of your gob.

[ajandjjmum]

Can you think of a joke that isn't at someone's expense though? Actually, I'm crap at jokes, so there may well be. But we're all individuals and can't be constricted by two neat little categories - bigot or pc. I agree with magic that most of us are just 'normal' - although we still have different senses of humour.

[Thingsfallapart]

I find it really scary the cultural shift that now says the people with the problem are those that are offended by prejudice.
I think the PC gorn mad brigade find it really hard to belive that others are genuinly not racist, homophobic or whatever, but that to me says so much about the nasty place their beliefs stem from.

[magicmummy1]

But ajandjj, for me, "normal" includes taking care not to offend other people. And being un-pc - in the sense of not caring whether or not you offend people - is not normal in my book.

The pc gorn mad rubbish is largely a creation of the media, but people have reacted so strongly against this that some people now seem to think it's cool to make offensive remarks - just to prove that they haven't jumped on some sort of mythical pc bandwagon.

I just don't get why this is seen as a positive trait.

[Omigawd]

I find the un-pc bigots and pc zealots equally irritating, they are the same sort of people IMO. I think the majority of people find the mid way.

[TeddyRuxpin]

I agree that most people are in a grey area between bigot and PC.
If you say something that offends someone, it doesn't necessarily make you a bigot. It could just be ignorance or a different sense of humour depending on what is said and the context it's said in.
For example most people wouldn't take offence at a Scottish man's kilt being called a skirt but how many would think it was un-PC to say that Arab men wear a dress?

[Besom]

Jokes are very often at the expense of others and that's fine. But what I object to is when they're at the expense of groups of people who've already been treated like crap (slight understatement there) by the majority for centuries. There's nothing more boring than rubbish old jokes about sterotypes anyway.

[ccpccp]

PC isnt about being nice or nasty. Its about saying the 'right things' whether you believe them or not. Where 'right things' is whatever bullshit is currently in vogue.

PC people are often a tad dishonest about their intentions IMO (hence 'political'), or often lacking in confidence to express their true opinions. Its more about gaining acceptance than believing what they are saying.

MN is rife with it.

[ggirl]

yanbu
I know a few people who excuse their outright bigotry with their oh so clever 'un pc-ness'
They're just rude bogoted bastards ..nowt clever about them at all.

[PGTip]

I think being un -pc is fine, but being a bigot is unforgivable. It is stupid that nursery rhymes like baa baa black sheep has had its words changed and that blackboards had to be called chalk boards. As usual it has gone too far and the point has been lost. If the battle is about bigotry it should carry on, if it is about innocuous words that merely describe an inanimate object or the colour of wool on a sheep then it's wasted on me. I don't know any black people who have ever been offended by blackboards or black sheep !

[TeddyMcardle]

YANBU, I've always wondered ta myself. I thought political correctness was about protecting the vulnerable and those without a voice.

[Yekke]

What ccp said, completely.

(And yes, PGTip, it's a blackboard not a sodding chalkboard!).

[PGTip]

Agree with you Teddy.

[Irksome]

And I don't know any schools that still have blackboards anyway.

[EvenLessNarkyPuffin]

'I think the PC gorn mad brigade find it really hard to believe that others are genuinely not racist, homophobic or whatever'

Agree completely Thingsfallapart. They presume that people are being 'dishonest' or holding back what they truly feel because they don't want to believe that they are the ones with a problem.

[PGTip]

Irksome no they have whiteboards now! Isn't it strange how that isn't seen as derogatory.

PC mad!

[Irksome]

But I don't know anyone who was ever told not to call it a blackboard! Invention of the Daily Mail to rubbish the whole effort to try and just BE NICE, maybe?