Political Correctness Gone Mad

Oh dear on the bbc news they are apparently changing wording in kids books in case someone takes offence or creates bullying they are really getting silly now . Apparently wierd is one of those words being removed . Others are fat , ugly and crazy in case it upsets someone . Not ladylike is now replaced with undignified , formidable female is now formidable woman . Mother and father is now parents and cloud men are now cloud people , it goes on utter crazyness its political correctness gone mad . What sort of world are we leaving our kids , oh my god .

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Spotpot · 41-45, M

There have alwayes been political correctness one way ot the other.

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@Spotpot Good point.

There has, but the term "political correctness" is recent, and may reflect the impression given on much of SW that its native country (USA) turns any social sensitivity into party-politics "discussed" with more abuse than analysis.

In the past, when domestic cruelty, racism and other unpleasant "isms" and "phobias" were widespread but not really recognised except by the victims, the censoring was more often of anything sexual, even of what we'd now regard as simply saucy.

For example, the 19C English physician Thomas Bowdler published [i]The Family Shakespeare,[/i] with the plays edited by his sister Henrietta to be more suitable (in their view at least) for women and children of their time.

Such prissy over-editing soon became called "Bowdlerising", and what we see now with Roald Dahls' books is much the same although for different social mores.