I am interested that whoever thought of this page did not define it.
In England, particularly in a big city such as Birmingham, where I live and work, there is a tremendous diversity of personal culture and background. Some of these cultures are, in general, more sensitive to these differences than others.
In this context, the term
PoliticallyCorrect has achieved two meanings.
One is to reflect a sensitivity. That is, to try to avoid terms and usages which are offensive in someone else's culture. When taken seriously, this becomes very difficult.
In some cultures, it is considered tedious and unnecessary to be sensitive to others. In those cultures,
PoliticallyCorrect becomes a
TermOfAbuse, used to ridicule someone else.
"In the computing context, I cross over between the
UnixCulture and
TheNotUnixCulture. I find this both fascinating and frustrating." Since I wrote the quoted text on
TheNotUnixCulture, the page was used to discuss the relative merits of Irix and Linux!! Discussion of this general issue moved to
WhatIsaReferent. --
JohnFletcher
One is to reflect a sensitivity. That is, to try to avoid terms and usages which are offensive in someone else's culture.
Only this implies that you don't believe what you say. If you were
CulturallySensitive (not just
PoliticallyCorrect), not insulting other people would be natural. In the way that not stabbing yourself with a red hot poker is natural. You don't have to learn
not to do that.
Even the
natural things had to be learnt once. I have learnt this as a father watching my son over the last few years. (He is 7 now) I did believe words were not so important. Then others said my words hurt them, in my thoughtlessness. So I think now that by avoiding terms I find natural, but others find hurtful, I can change what is natural for me, to be less hurtful.
--
JohnFletcher
I object to your use of the term
natural. It implies that the rest of us are somehow
not natural. --
DominicCronin
My point was that children aren't born hating each other over superficial concerns. They have to be taught. That burns me, too, having grown up where I did. You'd hear the "arguments" taught by grandparents, parents and uncles and wonder why these kids believed them.
Children are born completely loving and trusting. They are totally dependent. They have to be taught bad patterns.
On the contrary - children are born completely selfish and have to learn that other people deserve respect. -- DaveHarris
OTOH, children rarely display bigotry on their own. They may be savages, but they're multicultural savages. -- Pete Hardie
Cultural Sensitivity just means not assuming everyone will know English. After you have that down, the rest is natural.