Is humanity too sensitive these days?
Are you politically correct?
Are people too sensitive these days?
What’s your take?
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49 Answers
Humanity? maybe. United States? Yes.
U.S. for sure. Just spent a semester in Spain. Political Correctness does not seem to exist.
My take is that when you call someone nasty based on something that they can’t help—race, sexuality, gender, handicap—and they get offended, the problem is not that they are too PC. The problem is that you are an asshole.
Wow.. I mean.. I knew the US was overly PC at times but.. never knew it was on the international leaderboard for it.. XD I can see it… yup. Probly true.
Perhaps I need to move to Spain where there’s less crying and more laughing.
@MacBean what?
Too many people are numb, desensitized, narrow-minded,illiterate,hustlers.
Too few people are able to read and analyze discourse beyond the 7th grade language used in bulk commercial TV.
Crankiness is the norm.
I believe that extraterrestrials visited Earth in the late 40’s thru the 60’s and saw no future here and left.
I am happy there is water on the moon.
Did I say I was cranky ?
I would say definitely yes
@NaturalMineralWater I wouldn’t go right to laughing, unfortunately. One friend’s host mom told her every day that she was getting fatter. Another friend’s host family referred every day to both his being Asian and being gay. This friend got comments from strangers on the streets on both accounts.
Maybe it’s not that there’s no PCness, just no tradition of biting one’s tongue.
I don’t count myself as being very sensitive. If you catch me crying, you can be pretty sure that someone has died. However, I am of the opinion that being mean to someone for something that they can’t help is just rude, and I don’t tolerate it very well. If that makes me “too sensitive” then so be it.
@sliceswiththings Well yes.. it’s true there’s got to be a happy medium.. but my question is if it has spilled too far into the uber-sensitive side of the scale.
I was under the impression that humanity was too insensitive. Nobody cares about much other people anymore, IMO.
Political Correctness is a good thing, even if it does go to far. It gets people thinking about what is acceptable and what isn’t.
@sebastian_von_tulu To me it’s like.. well.. let me think of an analogy.. hmm… let’s say you live in a small town and there are 490 cops and you are the only non-cop citizen. Sure, breaking the law is breaking the law.. but how much is too much? Wouldn’t that many cops be .. sort of .. smothering? I say yes.
If you broke the law in a town of 490 cops and you were the only civilian, the outcome would be the same except you’d be more likely caught. However, you’re not likely to be committing any crimes in that situation, are you? So nobody gets hurt.
Yes. Too sensitive. If you get too sensitive it is impossible to have an open and honest conversation I think.
@sebastian_von_tulu Nobody cares about much other people anymore, IMO.
I read the question as in regards to how easily people get their feelings hurt. People are “rubbed the wrong way” way too easily.
As humanity moves closer and closer to being fully civilized, they (we) naturally become more and more sensitive. It is all part and parcel of growing up.
I try to be honest and kind. I am not always successful at the latter.
Judging from what I’ve seen in the last few hours, we aren’t correct enough, and we’ve allowed cruelty too much slack under the guise of honesty. G fuckin’ A, Mac.
@asmonet I guess I’m just not the type of person that would lie to a woman if she asked “Do these pants make me look fat?”
@whoever I understand the concept of PC.. of course it’s not nice to go around tearing everyone down and insulting them.. but to say one word and have it turn into a giant witch hunt is a little over the top.
If I lived in a town with 490 cops.. I’d move. It’s not that I worry about breaking the law.. but it would be just be annoying as all hell to have them around all the time. Am I alone on that? Should you get pulled over each and every time for going 46 in a 45? I don’t know.. I’m just rambling now.. I guess I’ve just become an insensitive old bastard over the years. Oh well. It is what it is.
You miss the point again, it seems.
To all those saying the US is more PC, of course it is! We’re a very young country, and with slavery and all the other civil injustices done to various people in our very, very recent history we have to toe the line more. The memories are fresh.
Some basic history and sociology courses cover all of it fairly well – just saying.
There’s a reason we’re this sensitive. We have a very unique cultural and historical makeup, as do all countries that fully explains our present attitudes.
@asmonet ”..honest and kind” is an oxymoron of the 1st degree :-)
Well, now you’ve pretty much cleared up our suspicions. That this question was nothing more than a way to validate your feeling attacked or misunderstood in the other thread. It had nothing to do with the length of your comment. One word is enough – when it’s that one.
@virtualist: I disagree, dude. :)
it’s a fine line – but it’s there. And I fully admitted I fail on occasion. :)
@Sarcasm @JLeslie That was probably irrelevant to the specifics of the question. Mostly just a thought.
I appreciate the need for open conversation as long as it’s not bred from ignorance. I think we’ve come a long way from the days when racism was acceptable but just not far enough. especially when there are people like this man running for election.
@asmonet Yes, the previous question piqued my curiosity.. but I really have moved on from the last question and I’m not sure why you’ve followed me into this question to validate whatever you are validating. I like you @asmonet. Can’t we all just get along?
You asked a question in a forum we both frequent. I’m hardly following you around.
”Can’t we all just get along?”
Probably not, if you go around making people feel like disgusting freaks and then implying that they’re oversensitive for being hurt that someone called them nasty.
It depends upon the situation. It is now considered not PC to describe a person if it calls attention to certain ethnicities. So if you are walking down the street and get mugged by a tall white guy with red hair, he is described that way. But if you get mugged by someone of middle eastern appearance, often they will not be described that way because of PC.
I am against that sort of PC, I want the criminal caught so tell me what he look like so I know if I am standing beside him in the elevator.
Degrading or demeaning another person for any reason is never a nice thing to do. Why is it that it is still socially acceptable to make blonde jokes? I’m not even blonde and they annoy me.
Ack. I’m being tag teamed. Hmm. I think I like it. Wait no.. that was in the mud wrestling bikini scenario.. this is definitely not that.
Anyway.. in regards to the actual question.. I definitely learned something .. I never really thought of it being mostly the US being so PC. I’ve traveled all over the world and have experienced lots of cultures and now that I think about it, it rings very true.. I just never realized it before. I suppose it’s a bit juvenile to be so hateful of PC.. I suppose it simply makes people more thoughtful when PC is considered.. I’m just from a different time and I’m still learning. Much lurve to everyone for their input.
Too sensitive and reactionary to slights and grossly insensitive towards others. This is where the problem lies.
@rooeytoo If you were mugged the police would expect you to describe the assailant to the fullest extent.
Actually, I’ve never liked that people feel a need to distinguish others due to the colour of their skin or racial heritage, but people do it all the time—particularly when frustrated; yet I never hear such distinguishing when they’re speaking of people with the same skin colour/heritage though… I don’t know, I just find it strange.
Let’s all just be one race, the Human race. ;)
@NaturalMineralWater It’s the same here in England. I think it affects a large portion of Western culture…
@sebastian_von_tulu – yep the coppers want to know but when it appears in the paper, or on the television, that is what I am referring to.
I agree with @MacBean. Yes, I agree that sometimes it’s taken too far almost too the point of being absurd or patronizing, but I don’t think it’s right to poke fun at someone for something they can’t help: sex, race, sexuality, handicap, etc. It’s just rude.
Personally I feel the world is far too PC. I am not PC myself, at least not privately. I laugh at jokes I find funny, but not if they are offensive or directed at anybody present at the time the joke is told.
Being too sensitive is a timeless feature. Wrong greeting of an aristocrat in pre-democratic Germany and you were in trouble.
I don’t feel that society is too sensitive. I think with population increases and more people living closer together, certain behavior that used to be fine is no longer considered acceptable.
If a community of 500 lives in a radius of 50 miles then it’s easy to avoid spending too much time with someone who is abrasive to you.
In a community of 2 million within a 50 mile radius, the assholes are much harder to avoid. So people start commenting upon it and trying to make the others change. Either the less sensitive want everyone to ‘get over it’ or the more sensitive want everyone to be more gentle.
Political correctness has gone a bit too far in my opinion because people seem to have discarded their own common sense because they know they can pass the buck when it all goes tits up! For example, it appears that we can sue anybody and everybody for the smallest little thing. I think people should be encouraged to think for themselves, use their own common sense and, most importantly, take responsibility for their own actions. I am fully aware that a slush puppy is going to be cold and so if I get brain freeze I am not going to sue the company regardless of whether they have put a clear warning on the cup it came in.
As far as the way we treat others, again I think it should be common sense. When dealing with people that we don’t know well (regardless of whether they are of the same race as you) we should think before we speak. Of course we should do this with people we do know as well but friendships often bring a knowledge of what is and isn’t acceptable to that person, we don’t get this with strangers.
Of course everyone needs a bit of guidance with what may or may not be acceptable. For example, my grandparents often say things in innocence that may be considered offensive (my grandad has always called people of colour “darkies”). He doesn’t mean to offend anybody and he treats everybody with respect regardless of colour but he didn’t realise that “darky” is a derogatory term.
My great grandmother, who is 96 years young, has told me on many occassions that because I am a woman my place is in the kitchen or the nursery. Yes, she is being sexist but she doesn’t mean to offend me. Because of this I don’t take offence but I will happily inform her that I have no intention of taking my place in the kitchen or the nursery. I think that, instead of assuming that everyone is out to offend us when they use a derogatory term or are prejudice in anyway we should use that opportunity to educate as to WHY it’s wrong.
@rooeytoo Ah yes, The Media. They love it. Political Correctness Gone Mad sells papers.
The media have caused quite a few misconceptions about this. Here in England everyone thought they were removing the word Christmas from Christmas cards purely because Tony Blair sent one that said Seasons Greetings instead. It got a bit silly. :)
I expect to be treated with respect and taken seriously because I am a human being. If someone, anyone, decides to treat me as “less than” because I am a petite, female, brown human being of multi-racial ancestry, average income, average attractiveness and non-religious persuasion and that I am somehow less worthy of respect and consideration on those accounts, then that person can go suck an rotten egg.
That’s not being sensitive. That’s just expecting good manners. But I realize that in this world, I may not get what I expect all the time and I re-acknowledge my own worth accordingly.
@aprilsimnel Actually in all honesty you sound kinda hot. XD Just sayin…
Here’s how I would define “sensitivity”: being attuned to the subtleties of the people you deal with; seeing them in their complexity. By that definition, I don’t think that it’s possible to be “too” sensitive.
One aspect of sensitivity is being aware of what words or actions on our part will be hurtful to others, and avoiding those (assuming that our intent is not to hurt). That requires sensing (which is why we call it sens itivity) where their boundaries lie and how they want to be treated. To just speak and behave toward someone in a way that feels most natural or “honest” to us without taking into consideration the impact it will have on them is insensitive. Sometimes it may be necessary to do or say something that will offend, but that judgment needs to be made from a position of sensitivity, not just because we don’t feel like bothering with others’ feelings.
But by the same token, I think that over-reaction to hurtful remarks is also a failure of sensitivity. More often than not, hurtful remarks and actions come from ignorance. People may use language that they grew up with, without realizing how toxic that language has become. People may say things that reflect an ignorance of the culture or lifestyle of someone else. In those situations, sensitivity will pick up on the fact that this person is speaking and acting this way not out of malice, but just because he doesn’t know better. If that’s the case, is reacting angrily really the best response? Sensitivity will also pick up on when someone is being a malicious asshole and respond strongly. In either case, the response is arrived at by careful examination of the subtleties of the person, not by knee-jerk reaction.
….Are you politically correct?
Are people too sensitive these days?
What’s your take?
Who’s asking?
The ACLU and a bunch of Lawyers?
Get over yourself….
I will say again though, that Political Correctness is a form of mental constipation(copyright). There is at times a knee jerk reaction to many issues without much room for respect.
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