Political Correctness

A person could write a sentence that could inspire the whole world. A phrase to touch someone's heart and a word to create chaos. With just a pen and a paper, a person could make a difference. That's how powerful our words are. Rizal himself, proved that a pen could be mightier than a sword. It creates an impact that even words can challenge our beliefs. Whether it holds the truth or not, it manipulates our mind to do such actions as a response to those words. Words that could bring a person in bliss but could also sink into the deepest part of our system. Bruises could hurt for a matter of days, but words could hurt a lifetime. And with just a stroke of a pen, the writer could melt even the coldest and the hardest heart with the words that he/she will write.

Words are powerful, and it could affect the readers with the kinds of words that the writer uses. When putting views into words, a writer should also consider the fact that not all readers have equal perceptions about the things that s/he have written. The use of words that we thought are appropriate can sometimes create conflicts and misunderstandings between the readers and the writers and even among the readers themselves. As what Mark Twain said that "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between a lightning and a lightning bug." For it could mean something different to the readers from what we want it to mean. A writer's improper use of words is like chewing a gum infornt of the reader. As if the readers were insulted and stepped on while or after reading the articles. If the writers would want the readers to appreciate their works, they should be extra careful on how they present their works and how they deliver their thoughts. Because words could mean different from what the writers want to imply. It could be deceiving.

And with the careful usage of words comes the readers' perception about the message and how they understand it. In the model of communication, The Sender-Message-Receiver is the basic model of communication. The sender will transmit the message using a channel while the receiver will decode the message and send a feed forward to inform the sender that s/he understood the message. But sending and receiving a message is not always accurate. There are barriers that affect the successfulness of the process. Language and location are some of the factors, a word used in a composition could mean different to other languages in specific locations. One good example is “Black Americans or Blacks” if an article would contain such term, it could insult the Black Americans if it was written in their location. But, if it will be read by the Filipinos, there will be no effect or any negative reactions coming from us because for the Filipinos, there's nothing wrong in using such term. But when the term will be used in the American society, it could create misunderstanding and conflict between the writer and the readers. If this would happen, then, the writer should look for an alternative word to avoid confusion to the readers part. S/he should be careful on what to write and be objective on the words that s/he will be using.

Another barrier is the education or the level of understanding of the readers and even the writer itself. If a writer is well informed on the political correctness in writing compositions, then s/he will not use informal words to make their readers get confused or react with what they have read. A well educated person would not use such words when writing and when talking to other people. The use of vulgar and foul words in writing could lose the formality of one's work. It is also a reflection of our educational attainment and how much do we know about ethics and morality. It's like we are what we write. And as for the readers, a word that the writers use could insult them if they are unaware of the whole meaning of the context/word or if it was improperly used in his/her compositions. People who have lower educational attainment could misinterpret what the writer have written. Let's just say that some words are not meant for writing. Some could lose the formality of the messages, some could insult us and the others are just unethical.

But, political correctness is not purely based on ethics pr morality. Because they could be constant or fixed. It implies conducts that can be applicable to different kinds of people. It may be ethically or morally correct, but politically incorrect. Political correctness depends on our location, level of understanding and the people that we are dealing with. Being politically correct should consider the impact of their words to their readers. If a person read an article which s/he finds insulting, he will sure have a negative connotation not only to the article but also to the author or the writer. People have prides of their own that when once questioned or stepped upon, they will make their stand to protect their beliefs and their side against the critics. In writing, it is always essential to consider the feelings and the state of the readers. Exaggerated, malicious, foul and discriminating thoughts and ideas should not be included when writing. It does not only loses the formality of the context, but it also brings a feeling of uneasiness to the readers.

I remembered the issue/conflict between an international show entitled, 'Desperate Housewives' and the Philippines regarding on the credibility of the Filipino medical graduates. It resulted to a huge misunderstanding between the Filipinos around the world and also, the show itself. The line of Terry Hatcher when she said that "can I check those diplomas because I want to make sure that they're not from some med school in the Philippines.", made The Filipino feel insulted and discriminated. A good example of political correctness.. The producers of the show and the ABC station told that they never intended to mean that way and that they never want to offend anybody especially the Filipinos. A single script made a huge impact to our country without even having the intention to do it. That's how powerful the words are. The scriptwriters thought that it will not cause such commotion and issue because, for them, there is nothing wrong in what they did. But, for the Filipinos, they felt insulted and humiliated. Despite of the apology that the show had given, Filipinos would not forget that the credibility of the Medical graduates of the Philippines is questioned and discriminated.

And after everything that has been written, it all narrows down to respect. Political correctness is respect... Respect to everyone's differences, culture, race and condition. We should write about the truth but in a manner that no one is being stepped on in our works. Writers should pay close attention or focus on the details of their compositions when writing informations, views, opinions, thoughts and such to gain the people's/readers acceptance and appreciation about the writers' works. Writing should be a win-win process... The writers gain self fulfillment, and appreciation while the readers would benefit from the writers' works.

But we should also remember that being POLITICALLY CORRECT could make our works BOXED. Sometimes, being too much of it could lose the punch or the edge in writing. We should bear in mind that a little of everything is enough so that we still have a piece of ourselves in our works.. Write out-of-the box but with enough political correctness..



by: Patricia V. Aquino

sources:
http://wuphys.wustl.edu/~katz/pc.html
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/_Desperate_Housewives_apology_over__10042007.html