The danger of political correctness

My definition of political correctness is this:
Softening language to protect the feelings of others

There's a tremendous amount of value in political correctness.  Just because I don't find something offensive doesn't mean you can't find something offensive, and there needs to be some kind of system in place that keeps us from hurting each other, particularly keeping us from hurting those who are traditionally oppressed and marginalized.

I don't want to go back to the days where we could say horrific stereotypes out loud.  Words matter.  The language we use to discuss people and concepts gets ingrained in our consciousness.

But can political correctness go too far?  Yes.

When people feel silenced from expressing themselves for fear of being persecuted for holding non-politically correct opinions, political correctness has gone too far.  When we can no longer acknowledge statistical averages because they are not 100% certainties, we lose data that can be used to help the world make sense.  And if we no longer acknowledge averages that skew in one way or another because they are politically incorrect, we make decisions based on bad data.  There will always be room for evolving social/satirical/comedic political correctness (you could say certain things in 1998 that you cannot say in 2018).

It's rarely correct to paint with a broad brush.  Painting with a broad brush has the opportunity to marginalize the oppressed and those who do not fit into the majority, but if we ignore large scale truisms because they don't fit with the politically correct inclusive narrative that we have developed, are we helping?

For purposes of this blog, I will draw distinctions between men and women, a distinction which is increasingly not politically correct.  Because gender differences have been used to oppress and marginalize women in the past, noting the differences between men and women can be viewed as a tool to diminish women.  However, if we don't acknowledge the differences, we are saying that men and women are the same.  If we say men and women are the same, we use one unified handbook to raise boys and girls.  In my experience in the progressive parts of the United States, that one unified handbook is tilted toward a style of being that resonates far better with females than males.  I will back this statement up throughout the course of writing this blog.

If something is mostly true, we should know it.  We should be aware that averages are not universal truths, but we should also know that statistical patterns and historical precedent matter.  If we lose the ability to say some things do not exist because they are not 100% true, then we are living in a post-fact world where feelings are prioritized over facts, and we live in a world where nothing can be certain.

This blog will explore the challenges I faced and things I learned as I discovered my masculinity coming from a progressive point of view where I learned that gender was a social construct.