In Defense of Political Correctness

Donald Trump is infamous for sprinkling his speeches with racist and sexist remarks, and then claiming that people get offended too easily when they find offense at these statements. He is cited as stating during the GOP debate, “I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct. I’ve been challenged by so many people and I don’t, frankly, have time for total political correctness.”

With the rise of a more open-minded generation, we find more and more people coming out as LGBT+, being more accepted into an era where social justice and general awareness of oppression gives way to a heightened tolerance of those who are the minority. However, there are still those who speak up against the oppressed, and like Trump, claim that a generation that gets offended too easily is the reason their statements are not accepted.

The flaw in this logic against political correctness is that being raised to be more tolerant and educated can do nothing but benefit and help the minority, while continuing to be against them and claim it is just your beliefs further creates a gap between the oppressed and those who are not.

Understand the Background of Victims

An example of this is with those who are transgender. When people such as Caitlyn Jenner come out of the closet, we see that many refuse to refer to them by their proper pronouns and only calling them by the name on their birth certificate. However, extensive research has been published that show the existence of gender dysphoria: a condition in which ones psychological gender different from their biological one. If one claims transgender people aren’t the real gender they change to be, one is ignoring the fact that gender dysphoria is a real medical condition, and that, through political correctness in the terms of calling them the proper pronouns and chosen name, we as a group of people can destigmatize their dysphoria and do something to help.

This idea is not only rooted in the oppressed, but by those who have undergone trauma. In an article by Tiffany Gee Lewis, she claims that we live in the “era of walking on eggshells,” and criticizes the idea of using trigger warning on required reading at universities and being more careful of what is said around those who have undergone trauma, because in the end exposure therapy is the best way to work through trauma or anxiety.

This is a flawed idea. For those who have post-traumatic stress disorder, being triggered by things that remind them of the event is a huge and troubling symptom, and exposure therapy is only recommended as a solution for this if they do not have any other psychological issues for the nature of how extreme exposure therapy is. Exposure therapy is also a prolonged treatment, in a controlled environment with a therapist if things get out of hand. Therefore, a person with RR-PTSD reading a novel with a graphic rape scene with no prior knowledge this was going to be in the novel may not be at a point in their treatment where they can handle this kind of trigger, may not be able to control their distress without their therapist, and may not even want to undergo exposure therapy, opting for a different kind of treatment for trauma. Understanding that one does not know what kind of solution someone with severe trauma or anxiety may need (unless they are that person’s therapist), taking the steps to prevent triggering them can only do more good than harm.

So what does this all mean?

Being aware of these ideas does not make one part of a generation that is too sensitive; an educated society that goes out of their way to be politically correct doesn’t hurt anyone, but only helps the oppressed or those who have undergone trauma. As Americans, we have the freedom of speech to say whatever we want. But choosing to use that freedom to insult, demonize, or trigger others is not only the line between hate speech and freedom of speech, but is incredibly selfish and rude.