The other day I was flipping through a book of politically correct fairy tales in which Cinderella discovered independence and Snow White woke up on her own without the aid of the prince and went on to be wildly successful. While these stories can be amusing, it seems that they touch a more disturbing issue in today's society.
Political correctness has become crutch on which people lean because they live in fear of "upsetting" and "offending" others. In effect, being politically correct has begun to strip people of their freedom of speech and expression because they live in so much fear of alienating others and being labeled a bigot. I fear that political correctness will impede people's intelligent thoughts and dictation--and will rob the world of not only creative works, but also intellectual views and commentary. The fairy tales, as the example I used, were infinately better as the Grimm Brothers wrote them, yet today's need for being seen as politically correct has robbed them of the luster and appeal. Furthermore, I fear that in America's case, we will become extremely politically correct because we fear being viewed as "ethnocentric"--which has to be one of the most cowardly words I've ever seen. And ultimately, this overdose of political correctness will cause the fall of western civilization because everyone will be so afraid of their shadows that they will not have courage to act or express the things that need to be expressed and we will be overrun by communists and socialists.
With that said, I do not have a politically correct bone in my body--I firmly believe in stating my opinions and views and while I will attempt to be as respectful as possible, as my user name implies, I gain my courage from the strength of my convictions. BTW-Cinderella and Prince Charming lived happily ever after.
Political Correctness can be absurd at times, but it is important to be senstive to those that your opinions are offending. In America we have the right to our opinions but we often forget that we are also accountable for the reprocussions of the opinions. Oh, and BTW, questioning gender roles in our fairy tales is not distrubing. There is nothing charming about the opression of women throught history, and it is of geat importance that female children are presented with stories that tell them that they are capable INDIVIDUALS that do not need to depend on a prince to come to their rescue.
Believe me, in no way was I suggesting that oppression of women throughout history is charming, as a woman myself, that would be a bit odd.. the fairy tales were an example of how people have taken fiction (which everyone knows automatically is not true) and change it--I've been forced to read ficitional stories in school that have been offensive to me as a white female-but instead of complaining that they aren't politically correct, I force myself to read it for what it is-just a madeup story. But I digress, I guess what I meant is that changing these stories ruins the integrity of them--And while I do understand that often a bit of political correctness is needed in the political and social spheres, but really, in literature?