"Don't you just hate it when some people always give predictable "politically correct" answers? I'm not going to name names but they must know who they are. Their kind of response obviously makes them feel warm and fuzzy inside but it rarely addresses questions usefully."
- celtish (from the
Yahoo! Answers Gender & Women's Studies forum)
At the forum mentioned above (my new regular Internet haunt), amidst all his diatribes against modern feminism and the declining quality of British televsion, this user named celtish is particularly irritated with political correctness and how prevalent it has become in our discourse. As long as he has been present, he has spoken of PCism in the same way one would speak of an airborne virus. People have become so afraid of offending others that they need to talk into a mask in order to stay alive.
What the poor dear fails to realize is that it is possible for someone to wear the mask willingly and eagerly, even when the air is clear.
There are those who have made the conscious choice to speak and write in a politically correct fashion. Our words are, for the most part, a completely accurate reflection of whatever we are thinking at the time. If we happen to have epithets to throw at somebody (and I have many), we are able to recognize that there is no legitimate reason to throw it. This is what has always separated the human race from the animals: we are able to override our emotions and keep interpersonal relations civil. Most of us, anyway. (insert Bush reference here)
So, what do I have to say in response to celtish? I'll be cheeky for a moment: "I respectfully disagree with you, douchebag."