Has political correctness actually gone mad?

Pogue Mahone said:
I know that it’s a big commitment but anyone who is interested in this whole thing will find this podcast episode a great listen. What makes it particularly worthwhile is the team behind it. This American Life is produced by NPR and as left-leaning and liberal as you’ll find. When they start to think political correctness is losing the run of itself then perhaps it really has?
Click to expand...
Part one is really interesting. Part two is kind of interesting too but its about guns (and "toy" guns) so feels less relevant, certainly from a British perspective, to the question of political correctness. (Though I will concede it may look very different in the US.)

Gun control is a fascinating issue in its own right of course.
 
Adebesi said:
Part one is really interesting. Part two is kind of interesting too but its about guns (and "toy" guns) so feels less relevant, certainly from a British perspective, to the question of political correctness. (Though I will concede it may look very different in the US.)

Gun control is a fascinating issue in its own right of course.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Had only listened to part one when I shared. Part two is fecking bonkers though. Gun nuts are so weird.
 
Beloved Lollipop Man Leaves Job After Council Says He Can't High-Five Kids
A much-loved lollipop man has resigned from his job of 20 years after he was told to stop high-fiving children as it could be considered 'grooming'.

Bryan Broom, 77, had been seeing school kids safely across roads in Hull for two decades, but after the council warned him against greeting them with a high five, he decided it was time to hang up his hi-vis jacket.
The respected and beloved lollipop man said that he could no longer work in a world where he would constantly have to watch his 'Ps and Qs'.
After hearing about his situation, the local community gathered on Bryan's last day manning the school crossing to show their support and shower him with gifts and hugs.
Children from the school handed him leaving presents and pleaded with him not to leave.

Bryan's resignation came after complaints were made about him high-fiving youngsters as they left Kirk Ella St Andrew's Community Primary School in west Hull.
He told the Mirror: "I used to high-five the kids until I was told it could be construed as grooming - that is what the council told me.
"It's rather peculiar because two or three months ago there were pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge high-fiving at a school and I should have sent copies of those to the council.
"It makes me feel sad and I thought if this is what is happening to the world I don't want to be a part of this."

In a statement, the council said: "The council had received a number of complaints from parents about the behaviour of Mr Broom.
"These complaints were investigated but not upheld. Mr Broom is choosing to leave of his own accord and we wish him well in the future."

Bryan was dumbstruck about the complaints made, but said that he was thankful for the support that had been shown towards him over the past week and that if he saw everyone who had been kind to him in the pub all at the same time, he would buy them all a pint.

"It means so much to me," he said. "It proves that the majority of people are not into this political correctness and that they are the same as me.

"The ordinary people have come to my defence.

"This political correctness has been perpetuated by a small minority of people and in the last couple of days, the majority has proved to me that Mr and Mrs Ordinary are wonderful people and they don't want this political correctness."

Bryan was moved by how many people showed him their support on his last day on the job and said that he is now off on holiday for a week.

"It has been fantastic," Bryan said. "I expected a bit of a fuss but it's gone viral and I love it.

"I've had chocolate, gin, wine - you name it, and I've had some really nice messages from children saying 'please don't go.'
Click to expand...
 
langster said:
That has really upset me and pissed me off in equal measure. Feck. Even worse is the parents who complained will be feeling smug and pleased with themselves too. Wankers.
Click to expand...
Christ, I grew up about a mile from Kirk Ella (posher than Anlaby) and the grooming accusation seems a stretch. Surely if they were primary school kids, their parents would be accompanying them to school, the young ones at least.
Nice that the normal parents gave him a good send off.
 
Jippy said:
Christ, I grew up about a mile from Kirk Ella (posher than Anlaby) and the grooming accusation seems a stretch. Surely if they were primary school kids, their parents would be accompanying them to school, the young ones at least.
Nice that the normal parents gave him a good send off.
Click to expand...

I was thinking exactly the same thing, the kids would be accompanied most of the time. It just saddens me that someone who obviously not only loved his job but made the kids feel safe and happy too while protecting them as they crossed the road, has had to leave his job because some despicable cnut(s) thought that no way on earth could a 77 year old man enjoy being a lollipop man. Not only that he must only be doing it so he can be close to kids who he must be grooming as he's so happy in his job that he high fives them all as they walk past him. And no 77 year old man can just like children or be friendly like that so he must be planning to abuse them all.

Arghhhh. Sometimes I really don't like this world at all.
 
langster said:
I was thinking exactly the same thing, the kids would be accompanied most of the time. It just saddens me that someone who obviously not only loved his job but made the kids feel safe and happy too while protecting them as they crossed the road, has had to leave his job because some despicable cnut(s) thought that no way on earth could a 77 year old man enjoy being a lollipop man. Not only that he must only be doing it so he can be close to kids who he must be grooming as he's so happy in his job that he high fives them all as they walk past him. And no 77 year old man can just like children or be friendly like that so he must be planning to abuse them all.

Arghhhh. Sometimes I really don't like this world at all.
Click to expand...
Loads of grandparents and older folk, like my in-laws, love being around kids as it makes them feel young again. Fine be mindful, but it's sad if the default perception is that they're paedos.
It's also sad if now he has lost an outlet for socialising. The high fives must be such fleeting encounters, often with parent(s) there, that the grooming argument doesn't hold up.
 
Jippy said:
Loads of grandparents and older folk, like my in-laws, love being around kids as it makes them feel young again. Fine be mindful, but it's sad if the default perception is that they're paedos.
It's also sad if now he has lost an outlet for socialising. The high fives must be such fleeting encounters, often with parent(s) there, that the grooming argument doesn't hold up.
Click to expand...

Exactly and great points at the end. Thankfully it appears he's ok and has more in his life than just his job. He chats about going down the pub and although clearly upset, not devastated.
 
Does seem to be completely out of hand, all this (political correctness and catering to people's perceived sensitivities). I was listening to a radio show not long ago actually, and on that show a teacher spoke of how he'd been assessed by some sort of inspector during a class. Apparently, he was taken to one side afterwards and brought up about his use of the word 'guys', and told that he shouldn't use a word like that in case it offends people.

I don't know if people actually are offended by this sort of thing, but if they are then we're going at the problem in the complete wrong way in society, and should maybe be working on finding out what is making people so sensitive, instead of just accepting this and creating a society where people feel like they're constantly treading on eggshells.
 
Last edited:
I saw an article on the BBC this week slating Justin Timberlake for not using his super bowl performance as a chance to apologise for exposing Janet Jackson's breast back in (I think) 2003.
 
Jippy said:
It was a clearly choreographed thing or does she randomly wear nipple tassles?
Click to expand...

It was choreographed for him to expose her red bra, but he ripped it off - fair enough that's an easy enough mistake to make, however she was somehow blamed for it, shamed for it and Justin got none of the bad press. She also has/had her nipples pierced, hence why they were covered in the way that they were.

Subsequently, she was banned from ever performing at the Superbowl again. Rumour has it that she was blacklisted from many events, and wasn't given the platform to continue to succeed.
It's also important to remember that her career at the time of the incident was doing incredibly well, she was one of the biggest stars in the world and was performing to sold out arenas. Justin in comparison was getting his feet wet as a solo artist.
After the incident Justin used the incident to propel his fame (this along with the Britney incident) and has never publicly apologised to Janet.

Justin is trash. Has some great songs/albums (mostly because of Neptunes & Timbaland), but generally he's overrated, and comes across incredibly fake.
 
vi1lain said:
It was choreographed for him to expose her red bra, but he ripped it off - fair enough that's an easy enough mistake to make, however she was somehow blamed for it, shamed for it and Justin got none of the bad press. She also has/had her nipples pierced, hence why they were covered in the way that they were.

Subsequently, she was banned from ever performing at the Superbowl again. Rumour has it that she was blacklisted from many events, and wasn't given the platform to continue to succeed.
It's also important to remember that her career at the time of the incident was doing incredibly well, she was one of the biggest stars in the world and was performing to sold out arenas. Justin in comparison was getting his feet wet as a solo artist.
After the incident Justin used the incident to propel his fame (this along with the Britney incident) and has never publicly apologised to Janet.

Justin is trash. Has some great songs/albums (mostly because of Neptunes & Timbaland), but generally he's overrated, and comes across incredibly fake.
Click to expand...
Oh right, I thought it was just a stunt they both pulled. Tbf it was years ago and something I remember in passing.

I remember there was a hoohah from conservative Americans, but never read any follow up stuff.

Did it really derail her career -I genuinely don't know. Madonna thrived on courting controversy. Janet was huge I do remember.
 
Jippy said:
Oh right, I thought it was just a stunt they both pulled. Tbf it was years ago and something I remember in passing.

I remember there was a hoohah from conservative Americans, but never read any follow up stuff.

Did it really derail her career -I genuinely don't know. Madonna thrived on courting controversy. Janet was huge I do remember.
Click to expand...

Yeah it really did, she was one of the biggest pop/r&b stars, then almost overnight she disappeared, and at that time female pop/r&b was taking off too, so there were plenty of new singers to fill the gap.

It's interesting you mention Madonna, because there's a lot to unpack here, we could get into a lot of politics particularly when it comes to controversy and who the 'controversial' artists are who benefit from it, and who doesn't. But that'll derail the thread, and i'm sleepy.
 
vi1lain said:
Yeah it really did, she was one of the biggest pop/r&b stars, then almost overnight she disappeared, and at that time female pop/r&b was taking off too, so there were plenty of new singers to fill the gap.

It's interesting you mention Madonna, because there's a lot to unpack here, we could get into a lot of politics particularly when it comes to controversy and who the 'controversial' artists are who benefit from it, and who doesn't. But that'll derail the thread, and i'm sleepy.
Click to expand...
Thee last big hit I remember Janet having was Scream (?) with Michael. Shit if that wrecked her career. She was weird, like most of her family, but very talented. Amazed if a dollar symbols for pupils record exec dropped her over that.

I guess others who benefited from controversy, eg Marilyn Manson, NWA, The Sex Pistols etc...took a hell of a lot of shit along the way.
 
Jippy said:
Thee last big hit I remember Janet having was Scream (?) with Michael. Shit if that wrecked her career. She was weird, like most of her family, but very talented. Amazed if a dollar symbols for pupils record exec dropped her over that.

I guess others who benefited from controversy, eg Marilyn Manson, NWA, The Sex Pistols etc...took a hell of a lot of shit along the way.
Click to expand...
The Janice thing happened in the earlier 2000's and I think people forget just how conservative the US(And the UK) was.

 
No idea what that video is all about but Janet's nipple on TV was one of the most ridiculous reactions I can remember. Talk about a storm in a tea cup. Feel sorry for her if it ruined her career. Quite like Justin's new track though.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
No idea what that video is all about but Janet's nipple on TV was one of the most ridiculous reactions I can remember. Talk about a storm in a tea cup. Feel sorry for her if it ruined her career. Quite like Justin's new track though.
Click to expand...
Yanks get really weird like that about some things.
 
van der star said:
Beloved Lollipop Man Leaves Job After Council Says He Can't High-Five Kids
Click to expand...

One day the majority, who are in the main made up of fair minded and genuine people will rise up against crap like this, and finally silence the pathetic minority that are listened to, purely because anyone in authority is sh*t scared of them.

The world has gone mad very quickly, but I personally think it will grind a halt pretty soon, and sanity will resume, if not we are doomed.
 
C'est Moi Cantona said:
One day the majority, who are in the main made up of fair minded and genuine people will rise up against crap like this, and finally silence the pathetic minority that are listened to, purely because anyone in authority is sh*t scared of them.

The world has gone mad very quickly, but I personally think it will grind a halt pretty soon, and sanity will resume, if not we are doomed.
Click to expand...

The article says that the council did not listen to the complaints (contradicting the headline).
 
C'est Moi Cantona said:
One day the majority, who are in the main made up of fair minded and genuine people will rise up against crap like this, and finally silence the pathetic minority that are listened to, purely because anyone in authority is sh*t scared of them.

The world has gone mad very quickly, but I personally think it will grind a halt pretty soon, and sanity will resume, if not we are doomed.
Click to expand...
I think they've since reversed the ban following the reaction, but not sure if he has still quit or not.
 
C'est Moi Cantona said:
One day the majority, who are in the main made up of fair minded and genuine people will rise up against crap like this, and finally silence the pathetic minority that are listened to, purely because anyone in authority is sh*t scared of them.

The world has gone mad very quickly, but I personally think it will grind a halt pretty soon, and sanity will resume, if not we are doomed.
Click to expand...

Isnt that is how Trump voters characterised his win? A victory for the fair minded and genuine (and mainly white) majority who believe political correctness (and the general tyranny of liberal, metropolitan elites) has gone too far.

I guess the issue is you cant counteract something like this with moderation, that is rarely how it works. You have to counteract it with something as extreme in the opposite direction. Moderation tends to get drowned out.
 
Black History month here yet I just saw a couple of trailers of white guys in minstrel get up at the Mardi Gras in New Orleans. How is that considered OK?
 
Someone at the swimming lake I go to has a fish tail style contraption. It's not all colourful and sparkly like her mermaid gear though, and I think it only covers his ankles and feet. I assumed he used it as a training tool, but perhaps he's a closet Merman?
 
The article mentions mermen and merpeople. Had no idea this was a thing. Given she can't find anyone from the 'mermaid community', I guess it's pretty niche.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.