Authenticity

Political correctness is getting on my nerves. There. I know it’s blunt, and politically incorrect, but it’s the truth. And although I did think about saying it nicely, or perhaps in less blatant terms, I decided that was too much work. And I honestly am tired of having to worry about how I phrase every other concept. Admittedly, I’m sure the original intentions of political correctness were great. But lately, however, I really feel like it’s gotten out of hand. I mean, when “overweight” has become rude, and phrases like “blind” or “a lazy student” are considered unacceptable, what are we doing to ourselves?

Now I understand that when it comes to sensitive issues such as race, religion, or even health, it’s important to take people’s feelings into account. Obviously, it’s not cool to use words like “colored” for African Americans, since words like that hold far too many negative connotations. And I think we can all see why calling gay people “queer” if you’re not gay yourself is offensive. And despite my blunt honesty, I am all about making sure I don’t hurt anyone’s feelings. After all, I don’t like to be called a “bleeding-hart tree-hugger” either (although you are all free to call me short and skinny).

My main beef with political correctness is that it can make addressing important issues feel like verbal acrobatics. How can you address race relations if you don’t know whether your black counterpart prefers “African American” or “black”? How can you talk about gay marriage when you’re not sure if your friend is a gay woman or a lesbian? I’ve come to the point now where I say both and ask the people I’m talking to which they prefer. I was actually thinking that the perfect solution would be to, prior to each conversation, hand out a little questionnaire where people can check which phrase they prefer you use. That way you can be sure you won’t feel like you’re offending anyone. Seriously, sometimes it seems as though we’re more worried about how we phrase things than what we actually say. And how conducive is that to our society?

I have to tell you though that the proverbial straw for me was the ongoing brouhaha over “Merry Christmas”. Apparently some organizations, people, and even corporations decided that since not all of their customers are Christian, “Happy Holidays” would be more suitable. Honestly, that’s fine by me, although I do wonder if they thought of those groups who don’t believe in any kind of holidays, such as the Jehova’s Witnesses. But since nobody asked me, I’m not going to complain. However, when people started to suggest that it might be better to not wish others a Merry Christmas, since I’m not always aware of everyone’s religious preferences and thus might offend them, I decided I had had enough with the whole political correctness thing. I mean, I celebrate Christmas, why can’t I wish that spirit on other people? And seriously, I can use all the good wishes that are out there, so if an atheist were to wish me a wonderful December filled with pointless fairytale beliefs, I would probably be happy with that too.

So I thought about it, and here is my solution: let’s all just be who we are. Be authentic. If you’re a Christian, wish everyone Merry Christmas, but be prepared to have people tell you they don’t do Christmas, and then be cool about it. If you talk about a sensitive issue, do your best to use the term you think works best, but don’t agonize about the million and one ways in which you may offend someone. If you do your best to be sensitive to people’s needs and hurts, that should be good enough for everyone.