i am offended that you are offended
why is everyone so offended all the time? the sweet lil old lady at work was chastized at work for spreading a “racially and politically insensitive email” in which “many did not find humor.” why does everyone take everything so personally?
first of all, the woman at work meant absolutely NO harm by what she forwarded. yes, it was a bad call on her part, but honestly was someone SO offended by what someone like her sent along that they felt it necessary to report her to HR? (granted, they probably needed something to work on other than the health fair…)
i am the only woman in my department. in fact, there are days that i do not see another female for the entirety of the work day. there are plenty of “woman” jokes that i hear that if i were even remotely sensitive may in fact bother me a bit. there are also georgia tech jokes, white jokes, short jokes, blonde jokes, (the list goes on) jokes that i could easily take offense to, but i do not because of the INTENT.
i think that the most offensive “jokes” are the ones that are malicious since most “jokes” have a hint of the truth in them. but when did the world become so politically correct? i offended someone the other day when i referred to MYSELF as “mankind” and i heard someone else correct another person when they said “colored” and not “black.” when i was in high school, i half-heartedly asked my english teacher to refer to me as “european american” if he insisted on continuously saying “african american” while referring to a jamaican (he didn’t get it).
i figured i’d try to pin down why being politically correct was so important. this is from wikipedia:
According to Edna Andrews, using “inclusive” and “neutral” language is based upon the idea that “language represents thought, and may even control thought”; per the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, a language’s grammatical categories shape the speaker’s ideas and actions,although Andrews says that moderate conceptions of the relation between language and thought are sufficient to support the “reasonable deduction” of “cultural change via linguistic change”.
so does that mean that if i am not politically correct, my language defines my perception of culture? and i am, in fact, a male chauvinist because i do not acknowledge “female” PC terms? damn, i thought i had the independent woman thing down. Edna Andrews is an idiot. in some instances, sure, language defines cultural perception. in others, language is part of regional dialect, life experience, and communcation skills. i wonder if i just offended edna andrews. i sure hope so.
the second important thing i’d like to mention is that it is NOT ok to have a double-standard for political correctness. it is NOT ok for a black man to call a white man a “cracker” (the term “cracker” comes from the sound a whip makes…) but it is not ok for a white man to call a black man a “nigga” (”can a nigga borrow a pencil?”) ! it is not ok for jews to make priest jokes, but for catholics to not retort with a joke about being horribly cheap. it seems that in our society, it is ok to pick on the majority, but God forbid you poke a little fun at a minority.
beyond race, i am offended that people are offended that they should stand or say “God” in the pledge of allegiance. this country was founded on the principles of a christian base of politicians. it is because of those people that you have the RIGHT to NOT stand for the pledge, or the national anthem, or anything for that matter. you do not have to respect the symbols of your country, and if you choose not to, you are not punished, nor asked any questions. you have the right to say whatever you want, to write whatever you want, to do (within reason) anything your heart desires. but you cannot respect the country that gave you those rights? why should we change our money? why should we change our pledge? why should we cut out songs like “God Bless America?” we shouldn’t. this is national history, people, not the imposition of religion on every person in this country. if you think it is, you are an arrogant jackass.
are you that easy to offend? are you THAT sensitive to every little nuance and cultural or religious difference in society that the second it is even mentioned that you have to scream like the little kid who got picked on in elementary school? grow a pair. life isn’t easy, and you will not always get your way. plus, most people don’t mean anything being politically incorrect it in the first place, unless of course they down-right, flat-out hate you personally to begin with.
my dad attended a church meeting about five years ago where the elders of the church wanted to add that “diversity” was an extremely important mission and to establish such diversity would be a part of the mission/vision statements for the year. dad’s remark was that by bringing attention to a lack of diversity, the moment that an opportunity presented itself to embrace a member of a minority, so much effort and emphasis would be placed on integration that it would actually be nearly offensive. in a nutshell, here is the scenario: 97% white church has a latino family walk in the front doors for the first time. white church vultures who need to ESTABLISH and CELEBRATE their “diversity” swoop in and shower the latino family with all kinds of attention. latino family leaves thinking “damn, what a bunch of crazy white people. we’re not going back there…” there is a difference between accepting diversity and forcing it. you cannot force diversity. ironically, everyone thought my dad was an ass for saying something like that. turns out he ended up being right.
another situation is actually even at work. all of our engineers are white. all of our lab techs are not. our lab techs think our engineers are a bunch of racists because our engineers try so hard not to seem even remotely racist. isn’t that ridiculous?!
i have no intention of being politically correct. the world is what it is. i am deliberate in my words, and i am pure in intent. i hold no prejudice, i couldn’t care less what color or religion you are. i am angry that it is such a big deal. i am angry that if i voted for mccain then i MUST be a racist. i am angry that racism and politics are now holding hands and are suddenly the same thing. you’re either a democrat or a racist, right? left and racist? white or democrat.
ridiculous.
i am offended that everyone is so offended. get over yourself.
No comments yet.