Every revolution begins with language. Every idea to be embraced is initially presented to society in the form of words. Then it falls into the hands of social media. It's apparent that whether an idea is accepted or rejected, passing through the judgment of social media is far from being a coincidence. Do you think so?
Political correctness has become a well-established term in today's world, intensifying since the 1960s. To elaborate, political correctness can be described as the practice of naming individuals belonging to a particular group with terminology that makes them feel comfortable. Of course, this is a superficial interpretation of a serious term like political correctness.
Can a person live without ever getting hurt? If there is freedom of thought, why has the concept of political correctness emerged? Does the comedy industry despise political correctness? Are our insecurities actually using political correctness as armor? While concrete answers may not be found for all these questions, it is certain that every segment of the world has a say on this matter.
They introduced political correctness to put an end to all the questions swirling in our heads with a single term. If our minds are further confused, great, let's look at some real-world examples.
For instance, addressing people by their assigned gender, a recent issue. Whether this poses a problem or not is a subject of debate in society. While the LGBTIQ+ community prefers the use of "individual" or self-identifying possessive pronouns, some members of society continue to label them based on their assigned gender without much concern. In this society, it is believed that these individuals are at risk in terms of visibility, even if it doesn't currently lead to chaos. In conversations with people from all walks of life, whether you are an advocate or not, their careful word selection to avoid being hurt is considered a communication challenge and pressure. However, communication problems in this context create a sense of alienation in the opposite party. In this vicious cycle, political correctness serves no one. People are declared as prejudiced, and life goes on. So, what about freedom of thought? If everyone will be labeled as prejudiced, is there a need to defend freedom of thought? Are we being prejudiced if we treat someone as an outcast for their behavior, even if it has nothing to do with their identity, and how should we express this?
Political correctness, come to the rescue to clear our confusion!
Today, people who identify themselves as "African American" preferred to be addressed as "Black" before, and even earlier - I didn't find it appropriate to use that word here, but you are already familiar with the topic. Did changing the terminology at certain intervals become a part of the changing world order, or are there people who complain?
The term developed to eliminate racism seems to have spread to entirely different sectors and deviated from its purpose. To define ethnic political correctness in the simplest terms, it seems stuck in the judgment of "let's address people as they wish." Okay, who decided?
Political correctness, come to the rescue!
The term is filled with contradictions and its meaning is quite convoluted. The Turkish representation of the groups that frequently articulate this term is more about activist groups than ethnic groups. As someone who has identified as a feminist for many years – yes, I've seen many applications where I thought, "Well, this isn't what I expected at all" regarding the implementation of the term, but I still don't know if I have the permission to say that – the words "lady-woman debate" have been a subject especially in Turkey. This years-long debate concluded in Western languages with the formal removal of different terms for post-marriage women from the language. In Turkey, there has been no change yet. It seems that changes are not as easy as we might have thought in a country that encompasses so many cultures. Especially when the number of households that haven't been touched by political correctness is this high. In the battle of political correctness, the feminist revolution got what it wanted in the West.
Can we say that political correctness finally served a purpose in one(!) aspect?
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the comedy sector has suffered a major blow due to political correctness. In this field where laughter has been restricted, it's ironic to think that groups advocating for the removal of national boundaries are defending political correctness.
Let's think about how your life would be if we had to get approval from everyone, and then let's call upon the advocates of political correctness to reduce our confusion.
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