Day 86 Question 86:

Do you believe this country/world has become too politically correct?  What are your thoughts?

This question came to me so unexpectedly.  As a lot of you know I am currently working on my Masters Degree in Counseling studies.  When I started my original thoughts were that I wanted to work in an office/Counseling Center and counsel clients one on one or maybe do group settings from time to time.  It took me a while into the course to realize that is not really what I want.  I want to work in an organization (most-likely non-profit) as a Program Coordinator or Education Director of some kind and work with young girls and women.  I would love to be a motivational speaker on some level and educate/counsel young girls and women on the importance of self-worth and bettering their lives everyday.  I want to work with victims of crimes (rape, incest, abuse, human-trafficking) and guide them in a manner in which their lives can continually improve.

I am currently enrolled in a class called Counseling and Guidance in Diverse Populations.  The class focused on working with clients from a variety of diverse backgrounds.  In saying diverse a lot of people get wrapped up with skin color when in fact diverse is so much more than that.  I have worked in nonprofits for several years and it is always a point for directors to have a “diverse” staff so they are always on the lookout for individuals of all different colors.  It always made me laugh because you could have a staff that were all black or all white and still be as diverse as they come.  Diversity is not just skin color or race/heritage.  We are all diverse because none of us has the same background.  In an organization with an all black staff, there could be one member that is homosexual, one member that is college educated, one member that is Republican while another is Democrat, one member that is Born-Again Christian while another is Atheist.  Even the things I speak of are on pretty large levels.  People’s likes and dislikes (down to liking seafood or not liking seafood) can make a group of people diverse.

Ok I am getting a little off base…as usual.  Wink Wink!  The reason I chose this question today was because for class (I am doing classes online) we had to answer questions given by the teacher about our cultural background.  These were the questions:

Complete the Outline for a Cultural Autobiography in the Vontress, Johnson, and Epp text by answering the following questions:

1.What is your name, birth date, and place of birth?

2.What is your cultural or national heritage?

3.What was the cultural mix of the schools that you attended?

4.What was the cultural mix of the religious institutions that you attended?

5.What was the cultural mix of the neighborhood where you grew up?

6.What trips abroad have you taken?

7.What foreign languages do you speak, read, or write?

8.What is the cultural mix of your workplace?

9.Do you ever participate in social or recreational activities with people who are racially or culturally different from yourself?

10.Have you ever worked around people in the military or civilian sector who were different racially, culturally, or both?

11.Have you ever had racially or culturally different teachers or professors?

12.Do you now or have you ever taught, supervised, or otherwise been in charge of racially or culturally different people?

13.How do you feel around people who are racially or culturally different from yourself?

14.What academic courses have you had that are related to racial or cultural differences?

15.What other experiences have you had that would help a person understand your level of exposure to racial or cultural differences?

16.What type of climate do you feel most comfortable residing in?

Based on your cultural autobiography, answer the following questions:

•How would you describe your life experiences with people with different backgrounds than yours?

•What is your definition of culture?

•How does culture affect counseling?

•What are some things you can do to grow as a cross-cultural counselor?

I really enjoyed reading a lot of my classmates answers because I was able to learn more about them and also learn that so many of them were not of the cultures that I automatically assumed.  In our class we are supposed to respond to two classmates for every discussion question we answer.  I responded to a fellow classmate and this is what I said:

It was really nice to read this autobiography to get a better idea of you as a person. I, unlike you, grew up in a predominantly Caucasian neighborhood/town. All of my classmates except two were Caucasian (the two were African American and Native American). While speaking of the cultural differences I keep thinking about the way we describe each other. I have always been accustomed to saying Black or White when describing someone but it seems as of lately most people are trying to be “politically correct” by saying Caucasian or African-American. I do not feel that describing someone as Black or White is an insult at all. What are your thoughts? Race and culture are very sensitive issues and I have also noticed that when someone is asked to describe someone else they shy away from using skin color. I find that amusing because it is the most predominant feature about the person to describe them and again I do not find it to be an insult. It is just a description to give a better idea of someone’s physical appearance. I do, however, understand the need for sensitivity towards these”issues” in certain circumstances. I would love to hear your thoughts. I am just wondering if you believe we have become to “politically correct” or “culturally sensitive”? I am torn with certain things.

What I stated I truly believe in.  I do not know about other countries as I have never visited or lived in any other than my own but I do believe we are getting to be a little ridiculous when it comes to being politically correct these days.  For example, it is a flight attendant not a stewardess.  I have had one snap at me for using that word.  Really?  I didn’t call you a bitch.  I hate to even say this but nowadays I do not even know the politically correct term for someone that is disabled…mentally retarded?  Handicapped? Learning Disabled?  Slow?  The terms are constantly changing and I cannot keep up.  I am not a spiteful person but come on….I don’t care if you refer to me as white because that is what I am.  I don’t need to be called Caucasian.  I do realize we do need to be sensitive and obviously use discretion but I think we have taken it to extremes and nowadays there are constant lawsuits and stories in the news about someone saying the wrong thing or using wrong terminology to describe someone.  There is a line between being respectful and being far too sensitive.  In my opinion when someone insists one being called something or another then they are just a little too big for their britches.  For example, I was visiting a local high school doing a small presentation for the staff and when referring to the principal I called him Mr. instead of Dr.  When I was leaving the auditorium I was pulled to the side by his secretary (or wait is she an administrative assistant) and was told he was Dr. not Mr. and I needed to remember that next time.  I just praised this man up and down in my presentation then caught hell for not using his proper title.  In my book he is still a Mr.  Good thing they couldn’t read my thoughts of what I was calling him in my head while exiting the building.  This is strictly my opinion, but some people get a little too high and mighty when it comes to titles.  Just because you have a job that pays you $100,000+ a year does not mean you are a God and should look down on everyone like they are pee-ons and expected to be acknowledged with a title.

I would love to hear others thoughts on the issues.  Do you think I am wrong?

P.S.  I found a website of a list of “politically correct” terms and I thought you might enjoy (at this rate we will eventually be using all of these terms) ;0)

A Criminal – unsavory character

A Crook – morally (ethically) challenged

Abortion – Near-Life Experience

Alcoholic – Anti-Sobriety Activist

Alive – temporarily metabolically abled.

An Immigrant – a newcomer

Assassination – involuntary term limitation

Bald – comb-free

Bald – folically independent

Bald – follicularly challenged.

Battle Fatigued – shellshocked

Blind – optically darker

Blind – photonically non-receptive

Blind – visually challenged

Body Odor – nondiscretionary fragrance.

Broken Down Automobile – mechanically challenged

Broken Home – Dysfunctional Family

Bum – Displaced Homeowner

Bum – Homeless Person

Bum – Involuntarily Domiciled

Cannibalism – Intra-Species Dining

Censorship – Selective Speech

Cheating – Academic Dishonesty

China – Porcelain

Chronically Late – Temporarily Challenged

Clumsy – uniquely coordinated

Commercial Fisherman – Flipper Whipper

Computer Illiterate – Technologically Challenged

Corpse – Permanently Static Post-Human Mass

Corpse / Stiff – Metabolically Challenged

Corpse / Stiff – Terminally Inconvenienced

Cowardly – Challenge Challenged

Cowboys – bovine control officers

Crackpot – certified astrological consultant, certified crystal therapist, or certified past-life regression hypnotist

Crime Rate – street activity index

Dead – Actuarially Mature

Dead – biologically challenged

Dead – environmentally correct human

Dead – living impaired

Dead – metabolically challenged

Dead – persons living with entropy

Deaf – Visually Oriented

Delicatessen – Corpse Farm

Dirty Old Man – sexually focused chronologically gifted individual

Dish Washer – utensil sanitizer

Dishonest – Ethically disoriented.

Dorm – Residence Hall

Drooling Drunk Idiot – person on floor

Drowning – aquatically challenged

Drug Addict – Chemically Challenged

Drunk – spacially perplexed

Drunk / Junkie – in recovery

Earthquake – geological correction

Fail – achieve a deficiency.

Fat – Differently Weighted

Fat – gravitationally challenged

Fat – horizontally challenged.

Fat – horizontally gifted

Fat – People of Mass

Fat – person of substance

Fictional / Mythological – ontologically challenged

Freshman – first-year student

Frog – amphibian American

Full of Crap – fecally plenary

Gang – Youth Group

Garbage Man – sanitation engineer

Gas Station Attendent – petroleum transfer technician

Geek, Nerd, whatever… – socially challenged

Ghetto / Barrio – Ethnically Homogenous Area

Hamburger – Seared Mutilated Animal Flesh

Handicapped – Differently Abled, Handi-Capable

Having PMS – cyclically challenged

Hearing Person – temporarily aurally abled

Homeless – outdoor urban dwellers

Homeless – residentially flexible

Homelessness – Mortgage-Free Living

Housebroken – Family Disfunction

Housewife – domestic engineer

Hunter – Animal Assassin

Hunter – Bambi Butcher

Hunter – Meat Mercenary

Ignorant – factually unencumbered

Ignorant – knowledge-based nonpossessor.

Incompetent – Differently Qualified

Incompetent – Specially Skilled

Incompetent – Uniquely Proficient

Insane People – Mental Explorers

Insane People – Selectively Perceptive

Insult – Emotional Rape

Janitor – sanitation engineer

Klutz – kinesthetically challenged

Large Nose – nasally gifted

Lazy – motivationally dispossessed

Lazy – motivationally deficient.

Learning Disability – Self-Paced Cognitive Ability

Library – Educational Resource Center

Logger – Wood Weasel

Logger – Paper Pirate

Logger -Treeslayer

Loser – Second Place

Loser – uniquely fortuned individual on an alternative career path

Man-hole – maintenance hole

Mankind – humankind

MANkind, HuMAN, PerSON – Earth Children

Mercy Killing – Euthanasia

Mercy Killing – Putting Down/To Sleep/Out of Misery

Messy – differently organized

Meter Maid – Parking enforcer

Midget / Dwarf – Little People

Midget / Dwarf – Vertically Challenged

Mute/Dumb – verbally challenged

Not with somebody at the moment – romantically challenged –

Off – energy-efficient

Old – chronologically gifted

Old Person / Elderly – Gerontologically Advanced

Old Person / Elderly – Senior Citizens

Panhandler – Unaffiliated applicant for private-sector funding.

Paper Bag – processed tree carcass

Perverted – Sexually dysfunctional.

Pimp-mobile / Low-rider – Culturally Responsive Transportation Option

Plagiarism – Previously Owned Prose

Po’ – financially inept

Policeman, Policewoman – law inforcement officer

Poor – economically marginalized

Poor – Economically Unprepared

Poor – monetarily challenged

Postman – letter carrier

Pregnant – parasitically oppressed.

Prisoner – client of the correctional system

Prostitute – sex care provider

Psychobabble – constructivist feminist psychotherapy

Psychopath – socially misaligned

Racist – genetically discriminating

Really Big Nosed – nasally disadvantaged

Redneck – person of region

Redneck – rustically inclined

Refugees – asylum seekers

Road Kill – Vehicularly Compressed Maladapted Life Form

Rudeness – Tact Avoidance

Runny Nose – nasally gifted

Senile Bag o’ Bones – Alzheimer’s Victim

Serial-Killer – Person with difficult-to-meet needs.

Shoplifter – Cost-of-Living Adjustment Specialist

Short – vertically challenged

Sighted Person – temporarily visually abled

Slum – Economic Oppression Zone

Slut – suffering from a sex addiction (female)

Someone who has no other reason to park in a handicapped zone – morally handicapped

Spendthrift – negative saver.

Stained – creatively re-dyed

Steward, Stewardess – flight attendant

Stoned – Chemically inconvenienced.

Stud – suffering from a sex addiction (male)

Stupid – differently-brained

Stupid – intellectually impaired

The Elderly – Senior citizens

Thin – horizontally challenged

Thirsty – osmotically challenged

Tone Deaf – musically delayed

Too old/young – other aged

Too Tall – people of height

Tree-Hugger – environmental activist

Trees – Oxygen Exchange Units

Ugly – aesthetically challenged

Ugly – Cosmetically different.

Ugly – facially challenged

Unemployed – Involuntarily leisured.

Used Books – Recycled Books

Vagrant – Nonspecifically destinationed individual.

Vegetable – noble unconscious hero

Vice President – Post-Coronary Leader of the Free World

Vocal Minority – target equity group

Vomiting – Unplanned Reexamination of Recent Food Choices

Waiter, Waitress – food server

War-Monger – Peacekeeper, patriot

Welfare Bum – economically disadvantaged

Whaler – Blubber Lover

White – melanin-impoverished

White American – racially challenged

White Boy – rhythmically challenged

White Trash – caucasian culturally-disadvantaged

Wife – unpaid sex slave

Worst – least best.

Wrong – differently logical.