Political correctness

[Alicja]

Hello,

Our topic for next week is political correctness. I’d like you to read an article/ watch a video concerning this topic and post a short comment concerning what you’ve read or seen (what was it about? was it interesting? did it meet your expectations? would you recommend it? etc.) along with 3-4 words/ expressions from the text.



The words/ expressions should be defined using a monolingual dictionary, e.g.



www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/



www.macmillandictionary.com/



Also, you’ll need to post a discussion question concerning political correctness.



See you on Monday!

[Pierre.N]

Good afternoon,

I find a small article for the topic: www.wikihow.com/Be-Politically-Correct

This article is quite interesting because it shows the main faces of the way to be politically correct.
However, this article seems to be more adapted to a anglo-saxon's culture than another. For instance, the way of telling some questions is different as in France (according to me but I may not have your points) especially in the "dating" advice, even if their point is not schocking. If you want to have some opinions on political correctness, this article is quite relevant.

The question related to this topic would be:
"Can we have a strict definition of political correctness or is it necessary to adapt it with details of each culture ?"

Vocabulary:

Inclusive:
Including a wide range of people, things, ideas, etc.

Exclusive:
Not very willing to allow new people to become members, especially if they are from a lower social class

To slur:
To harm somebody’s reputation by making unfair or false statements about them.

daunting:
Intimidating
Making somebody feel nervous and less confident about doing something; likely to make somebody feel this way.

[Clément]

www.delcotimes.com/20150303/chris-freind-snl-the-latest-victim-of-political-correctness
this article deals with the impact that political correctness have on censure.
espcially at TV, political correctness forbid things. for example, because of a parodies of a famous Toyota commercial, people get offended even if it's a joke.
It offend happened for TV shows like SNL.But they don't stop doing things like that beacause of the Freedom of expression.

after this reading we can wonder where does the TV show's jokes become offensive?

Vocabulary:
offensive: morrally repugnant
overnight: during the night

[Eva]

Hello everyone,

I read this article about political correctness: www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/oliver-burkeman-column/2014/nov/13/political-correctness-science-conservatives-liberals

Comments:

This article deals with how people feel about being politically correct. Cornell University did a study about political correctness which proved that it works. But people would like to say things they're not allowed to and it's frustrating. It's generally difficult to know if something will offense the person in front of you, but there are some defined norms. The author thinks that we live in a society that is scared of saying what people think just to avoid upsetting the others. He actually calls it a "culture of offense".

It's actually a good point of view to see our society as scared because we always have to be careful of what we say. But I think that we could express ourselves more and we should be able to give our opinion, as controversial it could be.

Question:

At what point political correctness begins to be against freedom of speech ?

Vocabulary:

stifling: making you feel trapped and unable to do or say what you want
tidings: news
haze: a mental state in which your thoughts, feelings, etc. are not clear

[Thomas]

Good morning CPE,

I found an article about the political correctness in Australia: www.australian-news.net/about.htm

Comments:

This article comes from an independant Australian website, which advocates the right of expression and exclude the censorship.
It reveals a trend in Australia, debates about immigrations or homosexuality are "no go" areas, because they are not politically correct.
And so the journalists of this website are breaking the low by denouncing that. Are they fighters of the liberty or fools?

Vocabulary:
bullying: the use of strength or power to frighten or hurt weaker people
thuggish: violent; typical of a violent person, especially a criminal
advocate: to support something publicly

Question:
Is Political correctness is a breakthrough or a step backward?

See you tomorrow

[Jean-Baptiste]

Hy everyone,

I read this artical published on the huffingtonpost website four month ago: www.huffingtonpost.com/michele-willens/face-it-enough-with-the-p_b_5923418.html

This article was written by a journalist irritated by the level of political correctness in the American society.
By basing herself on recent public stores in the USA, the journalist exposed that ''politically correct'' has gone too far in America. She also compared what people could say in the 30's and that can't be said nowadays.
I found this article quite interesting because it shows how political correctness gone wrong in the USA with a lot of different examples.


The question related to this topic could be a question asked by the reporter:
"Has political correctness gone too far?"

Vocabulary:

over the top:
done to an exaggerated degree and with too much effort.

dumb down:
to make something less accurate or educational, and of worse quality, by trying to make it easier for people to understand.

hair-raising:
extremely frightening but often exciting.

[Pierre L.]

Hello everyone !

I just read this article about politic correctness in Germany, from Deutsche Welle : www.dw.de/political-correctness-taken-to-task-in-german-play/a-15465032

This article deals with how politic correctness is being treated in Germany, especially regarding their heavy past. It seems that politic correctness is quite an asymetric one, Jews being very protected, whereas Muslims are more openly criticised. Anyway, the younger generation seems to be more relax towards this subjects than the older ones.

Question : How does historical background influence our political correctness?

backlash: a strong, negative, and often angry reaction to something that has happened, especially a political or social change
disparaging : showing that you have no respect for someone or something

Have a good night !

[Camille]

Hello everyone,

I watched this video about political correctness: www.youtube.com/watch?v=99s19HBs-6A&ab_channel=consumer

This video is from a Stewart Lee show about political correctness. Stewart Lee deplores that people use the phrase "political correctness gone mad" as a kind of cover action to attack minorities or people that they disagree with. All racist or degrading remarks have gradually been limited by political correctness. It makes people cloak their inherent racism behind more creative language.

This video was interesting because the comedian explains his point of view with a lot of humor. I recommend this show although Stewart Lee 's accent is quite hard to understand.

Do you think that political correctness makes people less honest?

Vocabulary:

clumsy: done without skill or in a way that offends people
cloak: a thing that hides or covers somebody/something
cushion: a cloth bag filled with soft material

[Yanis]

Good evening,

I find a article about political correctness published in Los anngeles Times: touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-82705850

This article is interesting because it deals the evolution of the meaning of political correctness since 1989 and the different meanings that can give him.
Indeed, the author says that the meaning of this expression is unique to each person and may be different depending on the political opinion.
Thus, its depends, across several examples, how the use of too dogmatic political correctness on the left political led to the loss of this concept against a liberal and uninhibited right.

The question related to this topic would be:

According you, trying too hard to take into account the sensivities of each, has is it ends up distorting the ideas promoted through the political
Correctness?

Vocabulary:

Frothing: ideas, activities...that seem attractive and enjoyable but have no real value
Grievances: something that you think is unfair and that you complain or protest about
Righteousness: the feeling that what you are doing morally acceptable or fair.
Antithetical: opposite to or completely different from something.

[corto]

Hello everyone,

I read this article about political correctness: www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-daum-pc-political-correctness-chait-20150203-column.html

Comments:

This article was published on the Los Angeles Times website and written by Meghan Daum. It deals with the idea and a way to describe what is « Political correctness » trough time and its changes.
First of all, she explains what were the changes when people heard about the term «  politically correct » ( someone bald beacame someone « follicularly challenged » ect …).
Then she explains, through diffent examples, how « political correctness » changed its meaning and the issues which occured because of its evolution.
This article is very interesting because we can see how this expression evolved through years and how people see it now.

We can ask ourselves if the meaning of «  political correctness » evolved in the right way ?


Vocabulary:

mainstream : considered normal because it reflects what is done or accepted by most people
strenuous: needing great effort and energy
froth: ideas, activities, etc. that seem attractive and enjoyable but have no real value

[Adrien]

Hello,

I red this article about 2014's political correctness : www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11294974/Was-2014-the-year-political-correctness-went-stark-raving-mad.html

I think that this article is interesting because it show that political correctness is everywhere (internet, ads, even in humour) and it doesn't make sense.
Indeed in anything you say someone will find "racism, Islamism, jingoism, sexism, genderism, classism, anti-Semitism" and be shocked.

Vocabulary :
    Preposterous : completely unreasonable, especially in a way that is shocking or annoying
    to jostle : to push roughly against somebody in a crowd
    jingoism :a strong belief that your own country is best, especially when this is expressed in support of war with another country

My question : Do you think that political correctness prevent people of having an unpopular opinion (racist, sexist, etc) ?

[Marie]

I have read this article about political correctness : www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2015/02/political-correctness
It is quite interesting as it presents politicall correctness as a rather negative thing. Indeed, during a speech delivered two weeks ago, President Obama suggested that Americans should not criticize other religions generally, which is not the real problem and looks more like censorship. Rather than restraing from criticizing other religions, President Obama should have invited Americans to be more tolerant towards other cultures. Criticism remains a key ingredient to debate.

Question : Are political correctness and freedom of expression compatible?

Vocabulary :
To advocate : to support something publicly.
To constrain : to force somebody to do something.
To wield : to hold a weapon or a tool and use it.
To be wary : to be careful when dealing with something because you thinkg it could be a danger or a problem

[Marie-Agnès]

Hello,

I chose an article about how to be politically correctness at work : www.experience.com/alumnus/article?channel_id=diversity&source_page=editor_picks&article_id=article_1155744906046

This article deals with the politically correctness at work step by step. The diferents steps are :
* We have to identify about stereotypes and their reject because is negative for respect the differences
* We have to go out of our comfort zone. We have to take a risk and go to the unkonown environment
* We have to be careful about jokes we tell outside office because it can have a recovery inside the office
* We have to ask questions for learn about new cultures
* We have to adapt our langage
* We have to respect the others opinions as ourself
* We have to adapt our langage

These article is interesting because it explain some rules and a politically correctness change for each personn but the respect of others is very important.

Misread : to understand somebody/something wrongly
Coworkers : a person that somebody works with, doing the same kind of job
Harmless : unable or unlikely to cause damage or harm
Enroll : to arrange for yourself or for somebody else to officially join a course, school, etc.

Question : Must we always be politically correctness ?