My campus is so politically correct I want to explode.

[apotheosis]

I'm to frustrated right now to list all of the examples, but the thing I hate about college is the political correctness is suffocating. Everyone is so sensitive to everything it feels like all the edge that gives life its excitement has been consumed.


Edit: Okay, here is one example I have to share. Someone corrected me when I said the word "handicapped" because they said that offends people with disabilities and I should instead call them, "differently abled". What the fuck is that suppose to mean? The whole point is that they just aren't able to do something at all, that isn't differently abled, that is disabled.

[Usoki]

Are we talking the students, or the faculty? If it's the students, I can honestly say I can't relate. If it's the faculty...damn, that's just what they do.

Personally? If I were handicapped, I would bitch-slap anyone who tried to call me "differently abled". Most handicapped people are determined not to let their handicap get in the way of living a normal life. And, when that handicap is called to attention, it pisses them off. When someone tries to give them special treatment due to said handicap, it pisses them off further. Who the hell are they to try and baby the handicapped? If you stop at the face-value of the handicap, you'll never see the person underneath.

[End Master]

Fortunately, that didn’t really happen at mine. Everyone pretty much just went about their business.

We did have a “Socialist Crusade” on campus for awhile and they were fucking annoying since they’d constantly try to stop you and have you try to sign stuff. They got in my face one too many times so I ended up ripping up one of their big banners and went on my way.

There was one guy on a one man Christian Crusade. That was more amusing though. He had a whole “Doomsday Billboard” that he wore which listed who was going to hell on judgment day. He mostly stood there arguing (In a calm manner) all day with various Muslim students. The gay students got pretty pissed at him too.

[Vesnic]

I can really relate to what Apoth is saying. I attended a college which has a long history of white, aristocratic privilege, of which it is now hopelessly ashamed. To compensate for this, it does nothing but advertise how wonderfully multicultural it is, how very open-minded. The result has been quite the opposite. It will gladly sacrifice academic rigor for political correctness. One must always censor oneself for fear of offending someone else, even to the slightest degree. The smallest remark can inspire the greatest rancor, effectively scaring everyone mute into the corners. And though there are certainly students of many different colors, from many different places, it was always my impression that everyone was remarkably indistinguishable. The college worked very hard to mold all of its students into a single image, yet remained unaware of how this practice was the absolute reverse of diversity. At one point, I lost my patience and sent a long email to a professor complaining about the intellectually stultifying atmosphere on campus. He agreed wholeheartedly, saying that so much of what seemed to inspire discussion was based on identity, not on ideas. The degree of self-absorption that was encouraged was truly dizzying. Despite the fact that it is one of the best colleges in the country, I often found myself disappointed in how unwilling everyone was to just think, creatively, without a whole entourage of prejudices disguised as conscientiousness already clouding what they might say. Things on I-S can get very rude, sometimes hurtful, almost always crass, but I have to say that really I have found some of the discussions here much more liberating and inspiring than anything that ever happened to me at my prestige-dripping liberal arts campus.

[End Master]

Wow, you guys had/have some PC Police colleges.

I can only think of one professor I had that was all into that stuff, and I think she was just “hippified” in general. She would go on to say of how things in the world were changing (This was during the 90s) and how people were being more open minded.

And the one thing she said that still makes me laugh to this day:

“I really believe that conservatives are done. They have no more power in this country. We’re taking steps towards for a more peaceful world.”

[Locke]

I try not to be insulting to any of those various groups of people, or to people in general, but a lot of the "politically correct" language is just ridiculous, of course. The short-lived British substituation of "misguided criminal" for "terrorist" is a good example. "Sex worker" for prostitute, "flight attendant" for steward or stewardess. I did see a list somewhere that included "involuntarily leisured" for unemployed; I had a laugh at that.

[Vesnic]

It's all just a really transparent cover-up to make those who are incredibly prejudiced feel better about themselves without actually having to address the heart of any issue.

[Locke]

I doubt it's anything that blatant. People generally mean well; things just so often get taken to extremes, so much so that the fix becomes worse than the problem.

[ChubbyTeletubby]

I'd say just keep fighting the good fight, apoth. Don't let the PC nazis grind you down.

I never went to college but I've heard similar horror stories from various sources. Too many rules, too many laws. This nation is suffocating in a sea of PC.

It seems like colleges have been on this road since the '60s so it's really nothing new though.

[apotheosis]

The worst is when people say African American. It's the most ridiculous term ever, unless you know they are for a fact African. A lot of blacks are from places other than Africa. I don't get it. And why do some people think it is okay to say white but not to say black? Double standards piss me off.

[End Master]

Next time someone calls you white, get pissed off and demand that they call you "Pigmentationally Challenged" instead.

[ChubbyTeletubby]

HAHAHAHAH!

Did you come up with the one by yourself, End?

I LOVE IT!!!!!

[End Master]

Yeah, I've used that one since high school.

Glad to see it still works.

EDIT: I just realized it's black history month so I bet they're on super PC alert at Apoth's college right now.

[Vesnic]

You should be ashamed, End! It's African American History Month!

[ChubbyTeletubby]

Or Pigmentationally Privileged month.

I mean, c'mon! Nowadays its TRENDY to be black!

Err, I mean...pigmentationally privileged.

I like it!

[End Master]

I thought it was more trendy to be gay right now.

Or “Heterosexually Impaired” if you prefer.

[Hi! My name is: Katie]

Actually Ves, I was corrected once by a darkly complexioned individual who said the correct term IS "Black history month." And she referred to Apoth's opinion that no one knows where all these niggas came from.

I always felt left out as a child that we didn't celebrate WHITE history month. It made me feel hollow inside. As a child I wasn't responsible for the suppression of the black folk. I just wanted us all to be treated equally and felt in my heart that to acknowledge one for a month and neglect the Native Americans, and White people, and Yellow people was extremely unfair. I asked my parents about it, and since they are racists they agreed.

[ChubbyTeletubby]

It’s settled then.

Differently abled heterosexually impaired pigmentationally privileged is the way to go!

[End Master]

And remember, you weren't raping those women either; You were merely implementing an aggressive reproduction strategy.

[Vesnic]

You're all a bunch of sick bastards.

I couldn't love you more!

[ChubbyTeletubby]

I pulled out though and came in their eyes. What would you call THAT?

Other than HOT, that is!

[apotheosis]

It has gotten worse. They have now developed a "if you are not with us you are with them" mentality and drafted a "pact against indifference" to try to radicalize the campus and basically start a race war. These people don't want equality, they want conflict, and I'll give it to them if need be. I will protect my right to be apathetic to the grave. Because if there is one thing I care about, it is apathy.

[Vesnic]

That's a great quote, Apoth.

I do hope they realize how eerily familiar the "if you're not with us, you're against us" rhetoric is...

I never found it to be helpful to be outspoken at college. It just made the already small surroundings feel even smaller. Plus, the student body is totally recycled every four years. These mentalities are certainly directed by the administration and faculty and foisted upon the students in a variety of subtle and unsubtle ways. I ended up just doing what I pleased with my closer friends and not paying so much attention to the campus culture.

[ChubbyTeletubby]

Just do like that chinc at Virginia tech did.

Oh wait, he wasn't apathetic. Never mind.

Do like I do and just wander about like an aimless zombie. It'll serve you well even after college.

[Vesnic]

Here's a particularly preposterous example that I shared with Apoth a few days ago:

My prestigious liberal arts college, like so many of its kind, only recently became concerned with so-called "diversity". It is now rabidly obsessed with this concept, making sure to recruit students each year from those countries that no one's ever heard of, like Moldova and Mauritania. They would have one believe that the campus is a representative microcosm of the entire world! This is, of course, pure bullshit. The international students are invariably the children of very rich foreign businessmen who can afford to pay the full dollar to send their little darling to prestigious American University. The school is also downright fascist in its promotion of the image of the "ideal student", so basically they take many people from many different places and mold them into one single image, indistinguishable from one another.

Anyway, Hollywood came to town one year to shoot a period movie. At the time in which the movie took place, there were no black students, or Asian students, or Jewish students (unless their daddies were exceptionally rich and willing to build a new library or something). They cast extras from the student body, and these extras were of course representative of the times: nice pasty white girls who went to church. Well, the African Students Society was in an OUTRAGE. Why didn't they cast any Mauritanians? This was so hurtful! The college was reverting back to its racist roots. This would not stand! No, m'am, this would not stand!

Since everyone is too much of a chickenshit to get into each other's face for real, the result was a FEROCIOUS flame war on the college's forum, ferocious beyond anything that has ever happened around here. Accusations of racism, fascism, nationalism, even death threats! I made one meek suggestion that the casting of the film was merely an attempt to be historically accurate, and hey, guys, isn't it great how far we've come since then?! I mean, anything to avoid being lynched by an angry Congolese in the dark of the night. I didn't stick around long enough to see if my suggestion went over, but the bloody dead hamster nailed to my door one day gave me the idea that maybe it hadn't been such a success.

It was the ultimate in ridiculous. It really made me regret not having gone to a big apathetic university that wouldn't have cost half as much as my arrogance-dripping piece of Diversity Paradise.

Bullshit. Pure bullshit.

[ChubbyTeletubby]

Oh my God please tell me it's NOT Harvard.

[Vesnic]

No, it's not Harvard, though I did know plenty of dickholes who went there.

Why does that matter, though?

[Hi! My name is: Katie]

I liked Mona Lisa Smile, but I did notice there was a shortage of colored folk. Am I right? Is that the movie?

[Vesnic]

Maybe.

Maybe not.

*Cheshire Cat smile*

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/3760/cheshirecat3mf4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[ChubbyTeletubby]

Look at those pearly whites.

Great reminder to floss tonight.

Thanks, Ves!

[Vesnic]

I don't know about you, Chubby, but I find flossing to be absolutely indispensable. I make sure to buy three more containers of floss whenever the one I'm on is just half empty (or is that half full?) The result is that I have a cabinet full of floss and guests tend to think I'm slightly on the cooky side. But dammit, I have great dental health!

Fluoride shower
Wait half hour
Till you eat or drink!

Thus spake Dr. Dentist. Wiser words have not been spaken in the history of humanity.

I now challenge the next person to do a six-degrees between campus political correctness and dental floss!

[ChubbyTeletubby]

Hey dude totally. Never had a cavity in my life. Haven't been to the Dentist in over a decade. I brush twice, floss twice, and gurgle twice a day. After every soda I wash my mouth out with water.

If I'm drinking wine I do the same. Say what you want about me but my smile is nice and I like it! I am obsessed about it. If my mouth feels dirty I really can't face the day. Sure, my liver and brain are dying. But my teeth are sparklin baby!

Fuck a dentist! I'm flossin'! And by flossin I mean dental!

Cause I'm TOTALLY broke!

But happy!

See. You all know me. But not really. I'm actually very happy. Addicted? Yes. Struggling? Yes. Evil? No.

I don't want to hurt anyone. EXCEPT GINGIVITIS!!!!!!!!!!!

Awwwwwwwwwwwwww yea, nigga.

[apotheosis]

It's getting even worse. The college president has gotten involved and I've received my first hate mail for trying to defend the rights of the indifferent and saying that it isn't right to drag everyone into this conflict. This is becoming sickening. Can't anyone react rationally to a problem without declaring war on everyone who disagrees with their position?

EDIT: Oh and Ves, you have exceeded me in post count. You are now the official IS post whore.

[Vesnic]

Hey dude totally. Never had a cavity in my life. Haven't been to the Dentist in over a decade. I brush twice, floss twice, and gurgle twice a day. After every soda I wash my mouth out with water.

If I'm drinking wine I do the same. Say what you want about me but my smile is nice and I like it! I am obsessed about it. If my mouth feels dirty I really can't face the day. Sure, my liver and brain are dying. But my teeth are sparklin baby!

Fuck a dentist! I'm flossin'! And by flossin I mean dental!

Cause I'm TOTALLY broke!

But happy!

See. You all know me. But not really. I'm actually very happy. Addicted? Yes. Struggling? Yes. Evil? No.

I don't want to hurt anyone. EXCEPT GINGIVITIS!!!!!!!!!!!

Awwwwwwwwwwwwww yea, nigga.

Apoth: You're on, biatch! You're slipping, losing your touch, etc., etc.
But take it from this apathetic old hag who managed tu survive her pompous college: Just find the people who don't hate you for your opinion and form your own little bastion of chill-ness amidst all the chaos and insanity.

Oh, and no one will give a shit once college is over and they actually have to worry about making ends meet. It's amazing how quickly ideals go down the pooper when you actually have to work for a living! The terror. The terror.

[Hi! My name is: Katie]

This is the cost of being politically correct. Is it worth it?



I came across this (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3342040.ece) article and thought it would fit in here. Basically, inbreeding among Muslims in the UK is causing a scourge of birth defects. Apparently in order to keep money in the family people are marrying their first cousins. The thing is, because it is a cultural phenomenon we can't discuss it. Anyone who does mention it faces outrage. On the other hand. Perhaps if we don't discuss it they will inbreed themselves out of existence and the middle east will be peaceful again? Although, since this has only been discussed in the UK, perhaps it isn't a problem on the global plateau.

What do you guys think of this one? Should someone enforce laws preventing first cousin marriages? Or should the problem be ignored as is politically appropriate?

[Nappi]

If the UK made such laws would'nt most of the royal marriages be illegal?

just kidding,I dont think laws are in order;perhaps some public awareness campaigns.I think this world has far to many laws to begin with.Every time something happens thats the first thing people start screaming "there should be a law against that";when in fact we should just be made aware of the consequences and learn to deal with them when ignored.

[ChubbyTeletubby]

If the UK made such laws would'nt most of the royal marriages be illegal?

just kidding,I dont think laws are in order;perhaps some public awareness campaigns.I think this world has far to many laws to begin with.Every time something happens thats the first thing people start screaming "there should be a law against that";when in fact we should just be made aware of the consequences and learn to deal with them when ignored.

Brilliant. I like you, Nappi.

[Nappi]

awesome that makes two of us now.

[Locke]

I don't think that's an issue of political correctness so much as it is a basic right the law guarantees. It seems to set a bad precedent to go about legislating that right away. It's my personal belief, as well, that if you love someone you ought to be free to marry them; even in arranged marriage cultures, if it's not something one is being forced into (I'm sure it often is) it should be legal. On a more general note, there are studies that show children of first cousins are not significantly more likely to have genetic defects, though incidence rises if cousins in the family line more consistently intermarry.

[thoric]

Michael makes three.

Sister makes six.

It's also the name of a pornographic story I just read. Seemed appropriate for some reason.

[ChubbyTeletubby]

West Virginia is a beautiful state.

I only got to drive through it shackled to five other grown men. But it was lovely.