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Conference turris::womannotes-v1

Title:ARCHIVE-- Topics of Interest to Women, Volume 1 --ARCHIVE
Notice:V1 is closed. TURRIS::WOMANNOTES-V5 is open.
Moderator:REGENT::BROOMHEAD
Created:Thu Jan 30 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 30 1995
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:873
Total number of notes:22329

177.0. "What is Politically Correct?" by CSC32::JOHNS () Tue Jan 27 1987 11:09

    What is "politically correct"?  I was taught that if you were
    politically correct you:
    
    Wore only clothes made of natural fibers-no polyester
    
    Didn't work with men or depend on men for any financial or emotional
    support.
    
    Didn't socialize with men.
    
    Wore Birkenstocks sandals.
    
    Didn't eat meat.
    
    
    What else have YOU heard of?
    
                           Carol
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177.1ULTRA::ZURKOSecurity is not prettyTue Jan 27 1987 11:2613
    That's great. A friend of mine is always looking for dates who are
    "politically correct". We both understand that what she means is
    that they agree with her in broad terms about such things as:
    
    Reagan is a jerk
    
    SDI is a waste of engineering time, and dangerous
    
    CPSR is a good organization to belong to 
    
    The ERA should have been passed into law
    
    Children are important to our future
177.2depends on who your friends areDINER::SHUBINGo ahead - make my lunch!Tue Jan 27 1987 14:466
   when I was in grad school in Buffalo (and no, it doesn't snow there
   *all* the time) I had a friend who described herself as a
   "neo-hippie".  She referred to Italian bread as "politically correct
   white bread."

					-- hs
177.3big brother is watching you!SARAH::BUSDIECKERTue Jan 27 1987 19:556
whatever my  big  brother  says!  ;-)  [Got  kidded a lot when I was younger
because I was less concerned about politics, having enough trouble mowing my
own backyard without worrying about the world's!]

- Linda
177.4DYO780::AXTELLDragon LadyWed Jan 28 1987 14:0626
    being a socialist or at least not being a republican,
    belonging to the Sierra Club, 
    having once been next to someone who got tear gassed, 
    holistic medicine
    real ponchos,
    volkwagon microbusses(SP?),
    organic foods,  
    knowing which side of Nicaragua we are supposed to be supporting
    being able to identify more than one kind of herb
    not wearing leather ('cept for the birkenstocks)
    working on your own car
    not owning a car 'cause it oppresses the masses
    only keeping female housepets (woman-identified housholds only)
    seeing a therapist,
    collectives,
    spelling women, wimmin
    
    But seriouly folks,
    Being politically correct implies being aware of more than just your
    immediate surroundings. Being PC requires a judgement of right
    and wrong as they apply to humanity in general, and the conscious
    decision to live in a way that does  not support inappropriate causes.
    And somehow being able to separate truth from hype.
    
    
    
177.5hmmmm...VIKING::TARBETMargaret MairhiWed Jan 28 1987 14:237
   <--(.04)
          
   Perhaps I'm a cynic, Maureen, but in my experience "political
   correctness" has much more to do with having the "right" prejudices
   than with ethics or reasoned choices.  
   
   					=maggie
177.6DYO780::AXTELLDragon LadyWed Jan 28 1987 14:5213
    re .4 and .5

    
    I think you're right about being politically correct.  Personally,
    I prefer no predjudices to having the right ones.  But then I 
    never was PC. I'm not sure us cynics can be PC.  I am pretty sure
    that in order to be PC, you can't laugh at yourself.  Didn't somebody
    in another note mention that feminists don't have a sense of humor?
      
    
    I did leave out a couple of minor things for my list...
    having a tail, not shaving your legs, listening to NPR.
        
177.7YAZOO::B_REINKEDown with bench BiologyWed Jan 28 1987 15:458
    re previous
    While I do a lot of things that would be considered PC there is
    still much of it I have no patience with. It often comes over
    as a kind of morally self-righteous bigotry. I've known extremely
    conservative evangelical Christians who were more liberal in their
    acceptance of other's points of view than some "politically correct"
    individuals.
    Bonnie
177.8FAUXPA::ENOBright EyesThu Jan 29 1987 16:317
    re .4
    
    In this note, I think "politically correct" was meant sarcastically,
    and what your explanation sounds like to me is "political awareness
    or consciousness".  I think.
    
    G
177.9CSC32::JOHNSFri Jan 30 1987 12:016
    Re: .8
    
    I don't know if I meant it sarcastically, but I have always gotten
    a grin at some of the things people take so seriously.
    
                         Carol
177.10Actually learned one valuable lesson from a Teen Mag...NEXUS::CONLONPersistent dreamer...Fri Jan 30 1987 15:3027
    	RE:  .9
    
    			I know what you mean, Carol!  It reminds
    		me of an article I once read in a Teen magazine
    		(when I was a teen myself) -- the mag was aimed
    		at teenage girls, and the article was about
    		"Are you hip or un-hip?"
    
    			It was basically done in the style of
    		"You are hip if you do xxxx.  You are UN-hip if you do 
    		yyyy."
    
    			The last line of the article said:
    
    
    		   "You are *extremely* UN-hip if you have to read
    		a magazine article to figure out whether or not you
    		are hip."  :-)  :-)
    
    			That absolutely cracked me up!  Since then,
    		I've tended not to worry much about whether everything
    		I do is "hip" (or "politically correct" or whatever.)
    		My rule of thumb is to follow my conscience (and try
    		to keep in mind how *I* would feel if I were in another
    		person's position.)
    
    							Suzanne...