“It’s political correctness gone mad!” you hear one of your ‘free-speaking’ close friends or relatives exclaim as they’re being called out for their derogatory language. But what do they mean by ‘political correctness’? What actually is it?
The Oxford English Dictionary’s definition – “originally U.S. advocacy of or conformity to politically correct views; politically correct language or behaviour” (OED online, 2021) – is arguably unhelpful, especially since the linguist Geoffrey Hughes claims that political correctness involves itself with neither “politics nor correctness” (Hughes, 2010, p.3). To many, political correctness is a way of being respectful and inclusive through language and avoiding terms which could be viewed as derogatory (2010, p. 8). To some, however, it means restricting freedom of speech. Cardiff Metropolitan University was accused of doing as much when they suggested their staff draw from a list of gender-neutral terms to use instead of gendered ones (BBC News, 2017). The suggestions include using ‘headteacher’ in place of ‘headmaster/mistress’, ‘police officer’ in place of ‘policeman/woman’, and using the substitute ‘person’ in noun phrases such as ‘best person for the job’, where otherwise the noun ‘man’ may have been used (Cardiff Metropolitan University, n.d.). In layman’s terms – nay, lay person’s terms – Cardiff Met encourage the use of inclusive language so as not to create a hostile environment for those who may feel their identity is unrepresented through gendered language (Cardiff Metropolitan University, n.d.)
Gender label censorship?
Not everyone agrees with the university though. Dr. Joanna Williams of the University of Kent told The Telegraph newspaper that “these words have evolved over a long period of time and they don’t have sexist associations” (Turner, 2017). She criticised the university for dictating the way staff and students can use their language, adding how it is “insulting to students” to assume the need for this ‘censorship’ (Turner, 2017). Even the Prime Minister of the time, Theresa May, feared for the negative social impact that regulating individuals’ freedom of speech would have on the country. Despite these critiques, the University stood their ground with the claim “the Code […] sets out a broad approach to promoting fairness and equality” (Turner, 2017), indicating they have no intention of removing these guidelines.
Singer (2017) proposes that political correctness is nothing but kindness, and that we should be respectful of the individual identities each person has. He claims that some small-minded people believe facets of people’s identity such as gender, race, or sexuality can only be related in a certain way. This is to say that for some, a man is a person born with XY chromosomes only, and someone born with XX chromosomes are exclusively women. Of course, this is not true as someone who biologically has XX chromosomes may identify as male and vice versa. In these instances, the kind thing to do would be to address the person or people with their preferred pronouns, rather than discrediting their identity by wrongly using “he” or “she”.
Someone who has come under fire recently because of this kind of misgendering is Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. She retweeted an article addressing “people who menstruate” with the caption “I’m sure there used to be a term for those people. […] Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”, making the assumption that only women menstruate (Petter, 2020). Rowling took umbrage (or Umbridge?) with the fact that twitter users were calling her “transphobic” (Petter, 2020) and backed up her claim that only women menstruate by tweeting “[…] it isn’t hate to speak the truth” (Petter, 2020). Hardly PC, wouldn’t you say?
The importance of context
Hughes posits that political correctness is no longer a blanket term and the context behind each situation is essential in determining whether political correctness was present or not (2010, p. 286). He provides the examples of Joseph Sykes, a barrister disbarred for using a derogatory slur towards a black colleague, and John Hlophe, a judge who received minimal to no consequences for calling an advocate “a piece of white shit” (Hughes, 2010, p. 286). The former was an excruciatingly clear example of racism, the latter is more difficult to determine due to the common conception that “you are a person of colour” therefore “you cannot be racist” (D’Souza, 1995, p. xii). This does not mean that the judge wasn’t being racist though, as Hughes says people have started to “reject such double standards” (2010, p. 287). As a white person, I did not immediately think Hlophe’s comment towards Mr. Greeff was of racist intent, but I was definitely shocked by the racial slur used by the barrister – is this un-politically correct of me to think?
Another issue Hughes brings to light is the question of whether changing the words you use actually changes your attitudes (2010, p. 289). That is to say, would a misogynistic man still view his female colleague as a “girl” despite being urged to use the term “woman”? Unfortunately, it is likely the case, as Hughes points out that it would be “unrealistic to expect politically correct language to replace […] natural language” (2010, p. 293) meaning no matter what language is used in a workplace, or an official setting, it is impossible to censor the words and phrases people will be using at home.
Free speech v kindness?
Ultimately, we live in a society that allows each of us to make our own choices, including the choice to “challenge what is termed ‘unacceptable’ or ‘inappropriate” (Hughes, 2010, p. 297). While it would be kinder to use politically correct language, no one can control the words you choose to use. However, they do reserve the right to judge you, and in certain cases sanction you, based on those words. So if a close friend or relative struggles with politically correct language, maybe gently ask them to stop and think about who they are talking or referring to for a second before opening their mouth!
CHLOE SHEPHERD, English Language undergraduate, University of Chester, UK
References
BBC News. (2017). Cardiff Metropolitan Uni bans ‘gender stereotype’ words.
Cardiff Metropolitan University. (n.d.) Code of practice and guide to inclusive language.
Language Debates 