things we are not allowed to say on mumsnet.

[stitch]

bottle feeding is second best.

living together as being in the least way undesirable.

marriage shows more commitment.

children need more than one parent

any opiinion resulting from religious faith. bigoted or not.

the opinion that children should have some sort of clothes on all the time. or that they should be made qware of private parts.

in fact any opinion that is not politically correct.

feel free to add any topics you feel i many have missed

oh, and hurling abuse at people is ok as long as you do not use swear words, and it is directed as someone who has a viewpoint different from yours.

anymore of this p.c. rubbish and you will be hurting beetroot immensely, i think it should all stop for her sake

and what's the betting than "non-PC" terms, some of which are now being 'reclamed' by the people the terms were used 'against' will be back in 'fashion' in decade or so

I think the term PC is used by people who are losing the argument. It's a very quick, shorthand way to dismiss any opposition to their views without having to coherently argue their case.

I used to know someone from Yorkshire who would cut any debate short by majestically announcing "Well at least I'm a Yorkshirewoman", in a tone of finality which proved she'd won the argument. (And who knows, perhaps I was missing something, perhaps she had!) For me, PC is a very similar mechanism.

just reaad the other thread or some of it at least. Have to say if you express opinions you have to be prepared for someone else to disagree and stitch I don't know you and have no ill feeling towards you about anything but you were harsh.
People have their reasons why they do what they do and as your not in their shoes you are just going to have to exceptt that the majority of people do the best they can and make the decisions they make for valid reasons.

Sounds like you were having a bad day and venting. Hope today is better for you

lemonice
I agree - its just that people sometimes dont bother to give their justification, and if you question their views, they merely repeat them without explaining.

Ive already said that!

"I used to know someone from Yorkshire who would cut any debate short by majestically announcing "Well at least I'm a Yorkshirewoman",

That's shocking - are you sure she was actually 'from' Yorkshire.......surely the 'correct' term is Yorkshire Lass ..........at least that's what I refer to myself as when talking about my Northern roots

agree with aloha and caligula - dismissing things you don't agree with as "pc" is the ultimate rhetorical laziness.

caligula, Im going to disprove that and show that pc has a meaning by compiling a rough list of pc views (some of which I agree with and some I dont!)

These are v much shortened for quickness!!!!

• people should not be criticised on grounds of race
• women are equal to men
• if men dont do housework, this is just social conditioning
• homosexuality should not be criticised
• war is usually a bad thing
• democracy is the best political system
• people should not be criticisd on grounds of disability
• a stable relationship is as good as marriage

Im sure other people could add more stuff.

BLOOD BOILING WARNING: this is only a list of view that I think could be described as PC!!
Im not meaning to insult anyone or have a fight.
Describing a view as PC in no way insults anybody who holds that view, or suggests that they have anything other than the most sincere and honourable reasons for doing so!

btw, Im off to catch my train now so wont be back for a bit.

Sorry QOQ - yes she did refer to herself as a Yorkshire lass - I'd forgotten that detail!

phew Caligula - getting worried there about her authenticity LOL

Ha ha nightnight - but I can see 7 ideas in there which I would argue are not PC at all, but generally held principles which even most people on the rightwing of politics would subscribe to. You won't get many Tories arguing that democracy isn't the best system, or that war isn't usually a bad thing. (They may argue that in certain instances it is a necessary thing, but that doesn't make it good iyswim.)

PC is generally held to mean left wing, isn't it?

Call me PC if you will but I'm not sure I would have a problem if people were actually banned from criticising people on the grounds of their race / disability on MN.

Yawn

I think there is a difference between political correctness and political correctness gone mad
and it is an irritating term in the former but less so in the latter

GON - but where would you stop. Better not to start in the first place. I think we are all big enough to realise (most of the time )what is meant and what is not.

gosh, this has heated up a bit.
cant really talk much now, as my kids are all over me.
but yes, both threads were started in frustration. part of it is that i have to keep my mouth shut in rl about opinions. mn is different.
and someone said no one insulted me, well i think they did. but cant really get into this as the kids are trying to push me off the computer right now.
thank you all of you who supported me. please note i am not saying agreed with me, as agreement is not necessary for support.

mmh, am not generally advocating restraint on freedom of expression but it seems to me that there are some obvious areas. Discrimination on grounds of race/sex / disability is unlawful in many areas of life (employment/social housing/ provision of goods and services etc). I personally wouldn't have a problem with a website saying views like taht are not tolerated (wonders if maybe there is something like that in the good old MN philospophy blurb...)

freedom of expression is a constitutional right, but it is limited by law concerning areas such as discrimination which may cause harm or distress to others. So expressing view to incite racial hatred, for example, is actually illegal anyway.

Agree with you in principal, but you could just see it getting out of control, issues being added in a bid to keep the peace because someone had recently been upset by a particular thread/issue. I think that would take away a lot of the reasons why a lot of people use MN rather than other boards.

Absolutely - anyone see that Babyworld thread? I had a quick look and boy, does it look tame!

which BW thread?????

The one about the troll outing herself. There was a link to BW (I think it was BW?) But it all looked very unuserfriendly to me, with loads and loads of rules.

stitch if you do have the chance to come back (and I know how hard it is trying to post on here with kids interfering!)then you mentioned lacking the ability to put forward your opinion as articulately as you would like...I think it comes with practice don't feel intimidated because someone else sounds better...I often struggle to express myself and then someone else says it so much better but if you have a strong view and would like to get it out there then just keep trying and you will find it easier the more you try but what people like to read/hear is justification/grounds/supporting ideas even if they don't agree with you...

Here you go GhostofNatt: "we will remove postings that are obscene, racist, or contain personal attacks". From our Philosophy.
I am a great believer in my not saying anything on here if I can't say anything constructive/pleasant/helpful. That's my personal Mn Philosophy.
I do reserve the right to be articulate, middle-class and liberal left-of-centre though. I don't like the assumption that this is in itself a bad thing because it's a point of view that's widely held on Mumsnet. I particularly love this website because there are so many articulate and well-informed posters - from all walks of life, cultural and political affiliations. I treasure it.