Believe it or not, I don't rant that often. When I do, it's generally in the middle of a thread, and often causes a profound silence -- like whipping out my dick at a Vegas buffet.

But I've been thinking about this for a while now, and I think the most coherent way for me to share is to just --BANG-- whip it out here.

I loathe the term "Politically Correct (PC)". I hate it, and I hate it more every time it is used.

At the time it was coined, it was a useful phrase. Form-over-substance ruled the land, and words and policies changed in the name of sensitivity, but no one was fooled for a moment that it was ever about anything other than reducing risk of offending voters/consumers during times of reelection. Almost immediately, the kinds of behaviors termed PC became more subtle, and folks seemed to get a bit confused about how to use the term.

Here's a hint: PC has never been anything applied from the inside. A group doing PC things does not call itself PC. PC is a term of derision. PC means that someone's doing something to try to appear more sensitive or inclusive than they are, but their ignorance is too profound to hide. PC is banning the word "gay" because it is used as an epithet, then expelling a student who uses the term to describe his gay parents. PC is not allowing a chalk board to be called a black board. PC is disallowing words like niggardly, retarded, mankind -- even when used correctly and effectively.

I'll tell you what PC is NOT. PC is not what we are here. We try to be inclusive, to not exclude anyone by careless words. We try not to be unintentionally offensive. We try to not allow bigotry and unfounded generalizations to be unanswered. This is not being PC police. Noting that women, gays, Pagans or left-handed albino nuns may also be reading these boards is not empty words or hypersensitivity.

I've heard a few people level the accusation that xForums tends toward hypocricy, because we talk about free speech and don't let people have non-PC opinions.

To be honest, I think anyone who holds that opinion isn't paying very good attention. Most commonly, I see these people equating disagreement with censorship. If I tell you I think you're wrong, you still get to hold -- and voice -- that opinion. We're pretty balls-out around here (including those without balls), and if you say something stupid, there's a fair-to-middling chance someone will call you stupid. Hopefully, someone along the line will take the time to let you know WHY it's stupid. You are, as always, welcome to disagree. But if you enter an argument to defend your view but are incapable of logical defense, don't be surprised that folks don't say, "Oh, I'm sorry, of course you're right and I'm wrong."

But let's go back to PC.

I think the term has lived beyond its usefulness. Now only people who don't understand it use it, and use it to accuse others of ignorance or hypersensitivity when they make an attempt to speak in accordance with their beliefs. Sloppy words can, in time, affect our view, and if sloppy words go unchallenged, some quiet listener may note them and take them as further evidence that they are unwelcome.

And then there are the APOLOGETIC ones. GAH, these piss me off, too: "I know it's not PC, but..." -- and often as not the sentence finishes with something totally irrelevant: "I think I'll vote for candidate X next term." Why is expressing an opinion not PC? Why is not being PC something you need to apologize for?

Well, those are rhetorical questions. Read the above to see how I might answer them.

So there you have it. My second rant today. The other one was buried in the middle of a suddenly-quiet thread.

8December2003