I Loathe Political Correctness

The blueprint's awesome: 'Let's not be nasty to anyone with hurtful words'.

But in real life, I'd rather say that I'm not very tall instead of stating that I'm vertically-challenged (whoever came up with that expression deserves a good spanking).

When I talk about PC, I tend to say that it's pretending to call a kitten a mighty Dane whilst still thinking that it's not even worth a goldfish - and it's mostly ridiculous.

Now... It can be quite revealing (and that's when my theory that most people using PC fall into the category of those thinking 'I believe the kitten's not worth a goldfish' gets its legs).

Just this afternoon... One title from The Japan Times (I have nothing against them, they're mostly cool, and their reports about whaling and dolphins' slaughters are brave and accurate, but they follow the diktat of PC in journalism) made me growl.

Have a look at this:

Korean-American activist raps Suga’s response to failed lawsuit against ‘comfort woman’ statue [Incidentally, the article's there if you want to read it]

Why am I growling? Well... Korean-American? We're not talking about hybrids (as in 'My dad's a cat, but my mum's a tuna, so I hate water, but I have a fish tail so I have to live in sea water'). We're talking about American citizens who happen to have parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents who, incidentally, came from Korea, settled in the US, and became legal citizens.

This reminds me of the Japanese-American people who were sent to camps in 1942.

This is not a way to acknowledge a rich ancestry. Nope. That's telling people 'Whatever you do, you don't fully belong, and we'll keep reminding you because we don't want your lot here'.

African-American anyone?

You never hear or read British-American, European-American, Swiss-American. You're only yada-yada-American if you're from a minority that's historically recent or still hated by (mostly, but not only) the WASP - those delightful people who emigrated to the Colonies, just like any Korean-American, but who did it last week instead of yesterday (yes, I'm European, and I am making fun of the Colonists who think that a century is a long time).

And then, there's the 'comfort woman' issue. We have archives, we have testimonies, and we have victims and witnesses who are still alive.

Calling these victims 'comfort women' is belittling their ordeal and giving it a cute PC name. That's something that should be avoided (oh, and anyone denying what happened to them had better stop siding with their tormentors, read a few testimonies on the topic and accurate History books, and basically avoid telling me that they were volunteers; they were enslaved to entertain the boys).

There's no beating around the bush: these ladies were forced to become sex slaves. These are terrible words. Sad words, but denial should only be that long river in Africa.

Journalism is coded writing, but things can be more accurate, and a kitten is a kitten, so let's call it a kitten and treat it like a kitten; that would be respect and equality.

*off the soap box again*