No Ho's in Australia

[tw]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

I thought since we were talking about ha ha ha instead of ho ho ho, I might post this little ditty. Maybe ha ha ha isn't quite as good a suggestion as was first thought...

Sounds more like "Boo hoo hoo" is more appropriate for all but the little brown jug.

[DanaC]

Yah, but it's rarely the actual legislators making that error. Often it is local officials getting terribly risk averse and not wanting to offend anyone. Often, though, it is completely apocryphal. I cannot tell you the amount of times people have said to me, "They wouldn't allow Christmas lights in Bradford last year in case they offended the muslims". This has become repeated by people so many times it has become 'truth' despite the fact it is utterly untrue.

Another classic: went into a shop that sold toys and noticed a rack of Golliwogs....I was slightly startled. I asked the woman behind the counter "are people still allowed to sell those?"....she said "Oh yeah, but you can't call them golliwogs they're Gollies now". I looked unconvinced, she said "They're not racist, they're just a nostalgia toy'. I said "But of course they're racist....they're a caricature of black people".

She said..."No they're not. Besides, anything's racist these days. You can get in trouble for saying blackboard or asking for a black coffee in a cafe".

Again.....something that's been repeated so many times it has become 'true'. This ludicrous idea that people get in trouble for asking for their coffee black, or for describing a black object as black, is something whch people have repeated to each other, usually accompanied by the phrase "it's political correctness gone mad" so often they've made it true in their own minds.

There are so many letters to newspapers, or political leaflets which propogate these lies that they become reality. They're not reality. They are just people's made up bullshit to justify their own feelings of racial animosity towards other parts of the community.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Yah, but it's rarely the actual legislators making that error. Often it is local officials getting terribly risk averse and not wanting to offend anyone. Often, though, it is completely apocryphal. I cannot tell you the amount of times people have said to me, "They wouldn't allow Christmas lights in Bradford last year in case they offended the muslims". This has become repeated by people so many times it has become 'truth' despite the fact it is utterly untrue.

Another classic: went into a shop that sold toys and noticed a rack of Golliwogs....I was slightly startled. I asked the woman behind the counter "are people still allowed to sell those?"....she said "Oh yeah, but you can't call them golliwogs they're Gollies now". I looked unconvinced, she said "They're not racist, they're just a nostalgia toy'. I said "But of course they're racist....they're a caricature of black people".

She said..."No they're not. Besides, anything's racist these days. You can get in trouble for saying blackboard or asking for a black coffee in a cafe".

Again.....something that's been repeated so many times it has become 'true'. This ludicrous idea that people get in trouble for asking for their coffee black, or for describing a black object as black, is something whch people have repeated to each other, usually accompanied by the phrase "it's political correctness gone mad" so often they've made it true in their own minds.

There are so many letters to newspapers, or political leaflets which propogate these lies that they become reality. They're not reality. They are just people's made up bullshit to justify their own feelings of racial animosity towards other parts of the community.

There may be some truth to what you state as an observation among people and converstation. The news is FILLED with acts of Political Correctness Gone Wild. It is out of control. Minority groups and individuals should not have the power to change things for the majority unless there is a good reason for it. Becasue you are easily offended by a display, a flag, owr whatever doesnot mean people should fall down and make you happy. Screw that.

[Kitsune]

Just for fun, I did a search for "political correctness gone mad". This one is hilarious.

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

The news is FILLED with acts of Political Correctness Gone Wild. It is out of control.

I agree -- why does the out of control news media even report on this? They actually perpetuate the problem by turning non-taboo issues into fake ones, pushing the buttons of people that are easily whipped into a frenzy by these reports that treat them as a person attack. It isn't as if these ridiculous ideals are actually accepted by society.

Now, if people simply ignored these self made "problems"...

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Kitsune

I agree -- why does the out of control news media even report on this? They actually perpetuate the problem by turning non-taboo issues into fake ones, pushing the buttons of people that are easily whipped into a frenzy by these reports that treat them as a person attack. It isn't as if these ridiculous ideals are actually accepted by society.

Now, if people simply ignored these self made "problems"...

That is the point...

[DanaC]

Well, I can't comment about American news, but I know our news is filled with such stories which later turn out to be false. The Christmas lights in Bradford are a classic example. Another is the story of some councils banning the flying of the Union Jack on St George's day, whilst allowing the Asians to festoon the place with lights at divali. Not one council has banned the flying of the flag on St George's day. Yet that was a news story. Similar in tone if not in content to the story of asylum seekers killing swans for food. That story was completely made up, proved to be so and provoked question in the House of Lords about responsible journalism, yet still people repeat it as if it had happened. My own father, and he is not a stupid man, repeated to me the story of asylum seekers killing swans for food.

Just because the media is full of stories of political correctness gone mad, doesn't mean the stories are true. Some will be....many won't. All will be indiscriminately repeated for years to come. Political correctness gone mad, sells news. It peaks our interest and ruffles our outrage.

[Sundae]

Anyone who says political correctness gone mad/ wild in my presence is either decapitated or just never trusted again. Depending on my mood.

It took me a loooooong time to persuade my mother that polish workers could not claim full child benefit for every child that they had in Poland, also that the same Asian children weren't being passed from house to house to claim extra benefit as the names were all the same on the birth certificates anyway.

It's tabloid journalism gone mad!

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

Anyone who says political correctness gone mad/ wild in my presence is either decapitated or just never trusted again. Depending on my mood.

It took me a loooooong time to persuade my mother that polish workers could not claim full child benefit for every child that they had in Poland, also that the same Asian children weren't being passed from house to house to claim extra benefit as the names were all the same on the birth certificates anyway.

It's tabloid journalism gone mad!

So you would never trust me if I said that to you in person? What is your major bitch then? You get that from a single example about child claims? Hell, I work with all kinds of freaky OCD people who believe all the urban myths they hear about from friends or read on the internet... that is a diffferent issue. We are not talking about urban myths.

[DanaC]

It's tabloid journalism gone mad!

lol. Nice.

[Aliantha]

I had a golliwog when I was kid. She was beautiful. I loved her better than any of my other dolls. In fact, I paid no attention to any other doll or soft toy at all.

Then the dogs chewed her up. I was very very sad.

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

I had a golliwog when I was kid. She was beautiful. I loved her better than any of my other dolls. In fact, I paid no attention to any other doll or soft toy at all.

Then the dogs chewed her up. I was very very sad.

Sounds like a scene from an anti-slavery novel.


Sometimes I'm a sook, but it upsets me when a child's loved toy gets senselessly destroyed ... so sad, so incomprehensible. Yet part of learning about the world I suppose.

[Sundae]

It's the phrase I hate. It is used to cover everything from using the word Inuit to Eskimo, recognising holidays other than Christian and not pinching co-worker's backsides.

So-called political correctness is about righting wrongs that still exist in society. I don't believe it has ever gone mad like a rabid dog, savaging people right and left for having "incorrect" ideas. Therefore as soon as I hear the cliche I steel myself for the rubbish that is about to ensue.

[Shawnee123]

I think tw gets all the good drugs.

:p

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

I think tw gets all the good drugs.

:p

FOr the twin brother of The Uni-bomber, yea, he's on something.

[DanaC]

So-called political correctness is about righting wrongs that still exist in society. I don't believe it has ever gone mad like a rabid dog, savaging people right and left for having "incorrect" ideas. Therefore as soon as I hear the cliche I steel myself for the rubbish that is about to ensue.

Well said Sundae. Personally, I think that the worst thing that can be said about 'political correctness' is that sometimes people who should know better are a little overzealous in their attempts not to offend people....given that the worst that can be said for what came before political correctness was an acceptance of hideous and demeaning rhetoric and action on matters of race, sexuality, gender and disability, I'd say I'll accept the cons that go with the enormous pros of 'political correctness'.