Political correctness is a cultural intent to be more sensitive to those around you, especially those who are often marginalized.
Mental retardation, for example, is a term that’s no longer acceptable. It’s been replaced with Intellectually Disabled. The clinical term for this used to be idiot and then moron way back in the day, but as people used those terms to bully, those terms were replaced with more neutral terms.
The problem is - people take neutral terms and then use them in a derogatory way. That’s exactly what happened to the term retarded.
The N word didn’t start off negative, but became that way early in our history. It was replaced by Negro in the 70s and that’s now negative if used today. I remember using the term “black people” with my boss who quickly stopped me and said, “No! It’s African American.” I thought to myself - when did black become politically incorrect?? It’s not.
It’s hard to keep up with the correct terminology. Even the term “political correctness” is seen in some circles as incorrect as it’s seen as a way to deflect and is not connected to an authentic understanding of impact.
Comedians are often politically incorrect in language and they get away with it because the target is not to put people down, but to make light of stereotypes.
Thoughts on all of this?