We live in an age of political correctness. Everyone walks on eggshells afraid to say anything that might offend another person. Soon words like Policeman, Fireman, Garbageman (okay maybe not garbageman) will be altered to remove the “man” part. Changes are already underway to many textbooks doing just that. For example, Founding Fathers has been discarded in favor of Founders or Framers. Snowman is now snowperson, jungle is now rain forest, and grandpa went from senior citizen to older person. When did senior citizen become offensive, and what part bothers the older people, senior or citizen?
How far is enough? Will manhole become peoplehole and won’t that be confusing (especially if you say it too fast) with peephole? What about manslaughter? Does that become citizenslaughter? No, I forgot, citizen is offensive to somebody. And, really what is so bad about a mans laughter? These changes go on and on. There appears no end in sight. And although the political correct police (notice I left off the men part) are deleting words like hot dog (bad nutrition), devil (offends Christians, even though God wouldn’t exist without the devil), and yacht (bothers poor people?), it is the attack on masculine words that worries me the most.
Why is our society so intent on emasculating the written and spoken word? What did men do to deserve this? Right, never mind.
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I laughed when I read this, but only because I recognize this rant as one I keep in my repetoire. Most of the changes are the height of silliness. I do understand, however, that words are like living things that evolve, and they accumulate meanings and implications as time goes on with which they were never originally endowed. So I guess we will just have to go on picking our way through the eggshells, avoiding the ones that are worth keeping, and smashing the ones that aren't. For my part, I will smash with glee.
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