Post examples of political correctness gone wrong that you've seen!
AN Eskimo-shaped sweet eaten innocently by Kiwis for decades has raised the ire of native Canadians who claim it is offensive in both shape and name. A young Canadian tourist travelling in New Zealand, Seeka Parsons, says she was appalled by the sale of Eskimo sweets, an iconic marshmallow treat sold widely in corner stores across New Zealand.
Who'd have thought the word "Eskimo" was so offensive.
Yes. Though they refer to themselves as Eskimo. Just as black people refer to each other as niggers. It's also often offensive and politically incorrect to call a black person... a black person. Yet it is totally alright for Caucasians to be called white people.
Apart from that, when calling someone an Eskimo it is refering to more than one culture. More than just the Inuit. The only reason the word should or could be seen as offensive is because in Indian it means 'eater of raw flesh'.
I guess my lack of knowledge in this area is due to the fact; we have no Eskimo's here.
Snoopy wrote:Though they refer to themselves as Eskimo.
lol at ignorance
They hardly even call themself Inuit. They call themself whatever tribe, or denomination I guess, of Inuit they belong to.
Apart from that, when calling someone an Eskimo it is refering to more than one culture. More than just the Inuit. The only reason the word should or could be seen as offensive is because in Indian it means 'eater of raw flesh'.
They don't speak Indian; even Indians from India don't speak Indian. The word you brought up regarding blacks is a deformation of Black in Spanish and Latin; far more innocent than Eskimo.
And no, referring to Eskimo doesn't mean more than Inuit. Inuit refers to groups of First Nations that live across the artic and sub-artic North America.
I'm all for free speech, but there should also be limits. But more importantly, there should be damn limits to the limits. I don't want a society where intolerance can hide behind religion and others can't say anything because it might hurt the feelings of some gay/muslim/catholic etc etc
There's too much people taking offense to everything. It's like people who associate their selfs with a special group have a monopoly to feeling offended and can offend everyone else cause they're a minority.
woutR wrote:I'm all for free speech, but there should also be limits. But more importantly, there should be damn limits to the limits. I don't want a society where intolerance can hide behind religion and others can't say anything because it might hurt the feelings of some gay/muslim/catholic etc etc
There's too much people taking offense to everything. It's like people who associate their selfs with a special group have a monopoly to feeling offended and can offend everyone else cause they're a minority.
Inuit, Eskimo... Potato Patato
I agree with you, but lets twist that the other way around alright? What if you're truly part of a minority?
It's smothering when you can't express you're creative thoughts or ideas because you know beforehand that there are people who take unnecessary offense to it. So you adapt to that atmosphere and you sacrifice so many good things which are worth sharing and can be of interest to others around you. But because of overly present political correctness people see demons in every corner and create a Nazi atmosphere where they all suspect each other from betrayal. Whether you have a gift for mathematics, creativity, computer programming, painting, forensics, computer forensics, humor, musical etc. It's not inviting to express when everyone points at you with looks saying: "Adapt and fit in or else we'll label you." I can't imagine what that would do to the original true creative thinkers of this day and age. People who can't express their creativity or their self without getting shot down these days must have it pretty hard. Sure if you have a gift that can help make society or a corporation a lot of money, or if it can help the law understand the minds of certain criminals better then you're important and they polish you're shoes. Not because they like you for who you are, but purely for being nothing more then a financial asset. But hey, you're worthwhile and you have a cause now so I guess you're all set right? The problem I have with overly present political correctness is that it leaves no room for the freedom of mind. It gets encased and you lose the most important thing which makes being a human so worthwhile, the desire to understand each other. To look past the flaws and accept that person for who he or she is. To tune you're channel into their televisions. That's what's being constricted these days. There's no more expression, but instead you've got expectations, misunderstandings, and predetermined mindsets who will have it no other way.
I guess that's why many gifted minds choose to live in their own bubble and only comment to those who have something worthwhile to share. But even if they go and have a conversation they think is normal and they get genuinely intrigued by it. There's always that group out there who can't help but treat it with meticulously crafted negativity and knowingly and decisively create a cult of suspicious Nazi's eager to stare and point. Now you think that's not that big a of a problem because it's just a small group right? But what happens when that small group gets more members? And slowly it starts to become more accepted to point and stare at others? In fact, what happens when everyone starts to point and stare? Then in the end where will society and the individual draw the line? Will people even be able to see the line at all? Not really because memory doesn't count and doesn't aid you in finding that line again. You can only remember where it used to be.
If people keep acting overly political correct, and keep pointing. Then sooner or later nobody has any sense of direction anymore. Then we're all adrift. And we would have sacrificed so many good things in order to gain nothing more then a very temporarily feeling of "Fix." just because that's the only thing which feels save anymore, and the only thing we know won't get us pointed at.
Heh, or maybe I'm having Utopian thoughts again.
Bmw 6 Series owner. Bleach fan. Music Fan. Reise for Mod. ~ Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable..
"Heh, or maybe I'm having Utopian thoughts again."
This.
I bet nobody remembers when Norwegians, Swedish, Finnish, Polish, Irish, etc, etc, etc, all came to the new country of the United States as immigrants and encountered the exact same thing we're talking about here.
The problem arises when you have cultures that do odd things like getting married at 14 in an arranged marriage. Or piercing their genitalia.
So, do you just accept those things as part of the "culture" and move on? Or do you try to show them a "better" way of life?
We moved past it before and we can easily do it again. People are people. Nothing more.
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Reise for Mod.