The article titled “How
‘politically correct’ went from compliment to insult” summarizes the
history of the term “politically correct” and its various uses in the media. It
is done to inform the audience of its background and help them understand the
true meaning of this phrase in order to make better use of it. Both the
denotation and connotation of this phrase have gone through many changes,
resulting in controversy regarding to its true meaning in today’s society. As
such, many people misuse this word, but its practice itself is widely utilized,
especially in the social media. That is why it is important that the author,
Catlin Gibson, succeeded in demonstrating its proper use.
This article introduces the term by
explaining that in today’s society, this word is associated with something similar
to being too careful. It then continues to describe its various uses by using a
single noun phrase for each description. This was done to emphasize the
diversity of its various meanings, leaving an impression to the audience of its
significance.
The
first example of the use of the phrase “politically correct” comes from 1932
when Harrison
George, a leader of the U.S. Communist Party, expressed his support for the United Farmers League in the Communist newspaper. In this case, it meant that the
newspaper held the proper position and used proper language, proving that this
phrase was a compliment at first like how the title describes it. However, some
years later, Lyndon B. Johnson uses this phrase in such a way that it compares
to being right, suggesting they are not the same. In doing so, he put this world
in a negative view. The former president was used as an example because of his high
position, displaying the significance of this phrase. This was an appeal to
pathos, making the audience feel negative towards the phrase because of its opposition
to being “right.”
Later on, in 1979, it was explained that In America among many political lesbians, bisexuality is regarded as a
betrayal so the politically correct thing
is to define oneself as a lesbian. This suggested that being politically correct meant doing what would
benefit them in terms of politics. The bisexual people had to call themselves lesbians
in order to keep from being called traitors by the lesbians. This was a clear
distinction from its previous connotation. It literally meant doing the correct
thing in terms of politics. By this time, this term was associated with doing what
would please the majority.
Finally, in 1991, George
H.W. Bush claimed “The notion
of political correctness has ignited controversy across the land. And although the
movement arises from the laudable desire to sweep away the debris of racism and
sexism and hatred, it replaces old prejudice with new ones.” He used this word in such a way so
that being politically correct meant being too careful in order to refrain from
offending people. At the same time, it meant being afraid of the public and to
the point of being fake. It was clearly a ridicule. Therefore, this phrase is
now used as a criticism of those that are timid and unclear, causing
misunderstandings towards those that intend to apply it in terms of its
original denotation.
All in all, this article does a good job showing the
process of how this the appliance of this phrase changed. It is not too
different from its original meaning, but continually using it in a negative way
has lead to it becoming a negative term. It uses various real-life examples and
analyzes them to show the audience the connections between them and the clear
predisposition towards becoming an insult.
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