PC isn't about the Last Temptation of Christ; PC is about how you act in a multicultural society in common areas, where people can't escape. Lenny Bruce really isn't on point here- because you didn't have to go see Bruce, just like you don't have to go to a Klan rally (not that Klan rallies are PC- but does the word even apply to that? It's so extreme, I'm not sure it does). But you DO have to go to the office, and you do have to go to school, and you do have to do your grocery shopping, and go to the DMV, and in all those places no one should ever be insulted, or ridiculed, for their group identity. You may feel differently; I've no idea- you've mixed up so many ideas in your post. I'm clearly and definitively talking about spaces where we are forced to cohabit with others who may be very different from us. I don't think the private areas of the world, books, music, art, ideas in general, are related to public conduct. Every art gallery makes its own decisions (I assume) about what it thinks is appropriate. Every publisher makes their own decisions about what to publish- so to a certain extent each little fiefdom is deciding on what is "PC" for them to present to the world, every person buying a theatre ticket has a choice not to see the performance- this isn't like work, or school, or the hospital, where you really can't just say "well, I just won't go then"- I do think that most of us accept certain standards of behavior for the wider public world, and most of us probably think being more sensitive, rather than less sensitive, is probably a good thing- ergo PC works pretty well, and it has made the world a less offensive place. Some people, of course, may feel differently- and they are free to do what they want, at the cost of people shunning them, or looking at them funny, or never wanting to associate with them- and that is, imo, as it should be.
Everything is about power- manners are about power, and class. If you don't have manners, you lose face, and people will treat you like dirt. If you don't think manners are power, you are really really mistaken. Manners, just like PC, can lose you a job (if yours are bad). Has PC been misapplied? Sure, everything occasionally gets misused, but on balance is the world better for more people because people are less bigoted than they were? I'd say that's a huge yes. |
