Political correctness
About
Originally a term used for self-criticism on the left, "political correctness" (or "PC") is now most often used by the Right as a put-down phrase (argument by label) for anything they dislike – which seems to be largely any form of consideration for certain types of people (basically, anyone not part of the white-male-protestant majority).
Origins
The term originated in left/liberal/progressive attempts to avoid accidental hypocrisy in public situations. For example, someone putting on a fundraiser for a liberal political candidate might be concerned that giving out party treats made in Chinese sweatshops would fail to be "politically correct" (since buying merchandise from such a source would work against liberal ideals in some small measure).
Labeling
The Right later saw this term as a way of dismissing liberal arguments or positions as "political correctness gone wild" or "run amok". More recently, with the ascent of Trumpian authoritarianism, the Right seems to have embraced the idea that political correctness to any extent is a problem.
While in theory "PC" could theoretically be used as a dismissal of any disliked position, the Right tends to use it against certain types of activity:
- Where "political correctness" stands in opposition to bigoted language, the Right has framed it as a form of censorship.
- This typically comes with an assumption that anything which is PC must be untrue, and therefore anything which is "politically incorrect" must be true.
- Example: Many people praise Donald Trump for "saying things that need to be said" rather than "giving in to political correctness" – even when the things he's saying are completely untrue.
- This typically comes with an assumption that anything which is PC must be untrue, and therefore anything which is "politically incorrect" must be true.
- Where "political correctness" involves advocacy for fair treatment of disempowered people, the Right tends to frame it as a form of discrimination against the empowered – typically white ("reverse discrimination"), male ("misandry"), and/or Christian (see Christian persecution complex) people.
Positions
Links
Reference
- Wikipedia
- Conservapedia
redirects to Politically correct
, which predictably places it in opposition to free speech - RationalWiki notes that the Right uses the same speech-related tactics they label as "PC" in others, typically in defense of "Christian values" (Biblical correctness?)
