Political Correctness

The concept of political correctness is based on the belief that speech or behavior that
is offensive to various groups’ sensibilities should be eliminated, by means of regulations.
Enforcement of political correctness in America normally comes not from legislation but
from rules and regulations. The origins of political correctness are debatable. Some trace it to
liberals in the 1960s critical of the government and government propaganda. Others point to
the early 1990s, when the term was used pejoratively by conservatives to attack liberal
legislation.

Political correctness is an extraordinary and admirable achievement of our age. It

involves an acute sensitivity of the suffering of minority groups traditionally overlooked by
the forces in society. For example:

Asking a person about their ‘partner’, instead of using gendered terms like
‘girlfriend/boyfriend’ or ‘husband/wife’. You might choose to do this to avoid assuming the
person’s sexual orientation or gender, or even that they have chosen to be married.

Asking someone what their cultural or ethnic background is, rather than asking them
where they are from. This second option implies that if they are not white, they’re foreign
and therefore not really Australian.

In PC language this is seen in changes to job titles such as "policeman", "postman",

and "chairman" which now commonly go by the gender-neutral titles "police officer", "letter
carrier" and "chairperson" as well as with terms having broader application, such as
"humankind" replacing "mankind".

People who are mentally disabled are now rarely described as "mentally retarded" but
may be said to have "special needs". People with significant vision loss are called low vision
or blind. People with significant hearing loss are called hard of hearing. People who cannot
speak are no longer called "dumb", they are non vocal.

Some of the new politically correct words are often criticized for being rather
ridiculous. Some examples of these are the terms ending in challenged. For example,
someone who is very short might be described as "vertically challenged". People also say that
things that are obviously bad are called by something else which hides the fact that they are
bad. For example, young people who are in trouble with the law, instead of being called
"juvenile " became "children at risk". "hearing impaired" can also refer to someone who has
partial hearing and "vision impaired" can also refer to someone who has partial vision.

Political correctness seeks to put boundaries on offensive speech and behavior; but

there is the risk that such boundaries are likely to be determined by the personal beliefs and
values of those in power. This means that the definition of what is offensive can change with
each group that comes into power.