General Chat

Gaynor is correct, it started in the 60's with that Mrs Whitehouse (or whatever). No I wasn't there I was told all about it. Ha Susan

David The media will have a new bone to chew soon!! They seem to have moved onto lager louts- now renamed binge drinkers and to women who drink deserve rape! What next - drugs, glue sniffing or obesity?!! Jacquie XXX

Jacquie & Nell I agree with what both of you have said - there should be no reason why anything that is meant to promote equality for everyone should end up being nonsense and in effect putting other people into an offended minority. But I do think these are the exceptions and the things that tend to be highlighted in the media.

I was once asked in a job interview (when I was 17) if I had a boyfriend as he was sick of girls starting only for them to leave and get married etc!! That's just one example in my life, being picked on is NOT the sole privilege of minority groups (women make up half the world)!! I applaud the concept of equality but not of positive discrimination - that's wrong. I believe in the best man (or woman) for the job and no one should get that job because they're of a group they want to fill their quotas with! It would choke me if I got promoted just because I was female not because I was the best person for the job!! Life is hard for everyone it's just that some people pin all their troubles on their difference, time to get on withyour life and count your blessings if you start to think like that. Jacquie

Nell, Wouldnt fancy being a Muslim, they're not supposed to drink alcohol, and in Ramadan I believe they cant eat till sundown, (I'm willing to be corrected on that if I'm wrong). I cant imagine not having my whiskey, bacon butties, and pork chops. and going without food all day, no thanks, wouldnt have the will power!!!!!!!! remember the old saying, 'As ye sow, so shall ye reap' Enoch may be dead but the word lives on. Len

I must also say that 'Politically Correct Brigade' smacks of militarist imperialism, and is therefore highly offensive to pacifists and the adjective politically could cause offence to apathetic voters. (If they could be bothered). nell

I am not interested in being 'correct'. But I am interested in using language in the right way, and not making labels, or assuming things about people, or using offensive ways of describing them. But all this b*ll*cks about people being offended is daft - if someone objects to something, then that's one thing, but all this daft stuff about we can't have christmas because it offends non-Christians is bonkers. We should embrace the diversity of our culture and enjoy any excuse for a celebration, whether its divali, Christmas, Hannukah, Easter, Eid or a Humanist Naming service. nell

the biggest problem is the powers that be take it in an make it a law, they should just ignore it,

Twinkle, I'll be watching that. The objective is quite PC but how in reallity is a small business expected to cope. I know of a number of small businesses locally who would go bust if they followed the law to the letter. In most cases they employ highly trained people with university degree qualifications. They can not afford to employ a second full time person to cover the absence, and a temp is not able to do the work.

I certainly hope so Peter, The PC Brigade are only one step away from being the Thought Police. let us go our merry way and if we do offend someone I am sure they will say so. I really am fed up with seeing reports of things being banned because they may (or by implication may not) be offensive to a minority.

There's a programme on TV tonight about women sacked for being pregnant.

Ok Does this now mean that the PC Brigade have been banished into obvlivion, in favour of the more tollerant and charitable majority in this country of ours? I do hope so.

CB I wasn't trying to change your mind or ignore your experiences. You made a point in yr post that made me want to comment. End of. It certainly wasn't personal but I will try to refrain from commenting on yr posts:)

David, I could tell you plenty of stories from personal experience of sexual harassment in the workplace spanning almost as many years as you've been alive. i've also suffered racial abuse from ignorant people who erroneously picked on my surname as belonging to a much-maligned racial group. I've also been discriminated against on grounds of class, accent and height, so I am very well aware of how unpleasant all of these things are. I just don't expect the world to be turned upside down because my nose has been put out of joint. * see below I don't know why you choose to pick up on everything I say on these matters or what you hope to achieve by it, but you can't change the facts behind why I think and feel as I do, so you're on a hiding to nothing, but if it amuses you and makes you happy, then you just go right ahead. In the often-quoted words of someone rather famous - I ain't bovvered! >*|*< * I should also add that I do believe that most people are tolerant and accepting of change, but on a gradual basis. Unfortunately, as you and I have both found, there are some who are not and who cause problems and grief.

CB I'm pleased that your experiences have shown you that the majority of people in this country are tolerant and charitable but not everyone has experienced the same:) And unfortunately, it doesn't need many people to make one person's life a misery - cases of sexual harrassment in the workplace for example, which weren't fairly legislated against until recent times.

C.B. Well said, and most eloquently too !!

Aileen come back, this thread needs you :-))) Pat x

I think heavy-handed pushing of Political Correctness is far too reminiscent of Communist Russia - and look where that got them. I also believe that the tolerance and charitable spirit which most people in this country exhibit, coupled with good manners, ought to outweigh the perceived need for legislation in many areas. Fine to change outmoded laws regarding certain sensitive issues, but certain zealots carry PC to extremes, and that causes resentment. As I keep saying, I don't need lecturing or legislation when I'm doing nothing to harm anyone - nor do most people. >*|*<

We are gradually becoming more tolerant of others in this country, although strict laws had to be set to start with. However, there are still things which we probably would not tolerate. For example a naked dancing circle of Pagans on the village green would still be frowned upon by the Silent Majority. Having said that, I suppose the PC Brigade would insist upon them having the right to practice their religion as they see fit. Many of us can remember the fuss and outrage expressed by the proposal to legalise homosexuality, then most of us accepted it, then we started to backlash BECAUSE the PC Brigade went to extreme lengths to ensure that the subject was always in our faces. Now that we don't get an advert in every commercial break about it, everyone is happy to live and let live. I fear a similar backlash by 'Christians' if their religion is not permitted (by petty bureaucrats) to express itself.

Hmmmm we have a nice mix of PC Brigaders and anti-PC Brigaders. Perhaps we can breed them to create a nice, neutral race of .... no, wait, isn't that eugenics I'm espousing? Oh dear. Is there a wall for the non-PC to be shot, or shall I start my own?