Drowning in Political Correctness

On Wednesday I got to attend a professional development session at work on "inclusion."  Although it meant sitting in a presentation for 3 hours, I was actually a little interested in what was to be said about this topic.  Unfortunately, the good attitude and genuine curiosity I entered the presentation with were completely gone by the end and I left the room feeling like what society is considering "stepping forward" is actually more of a step into a black hole of unnecessary ambiguity, useless complexity, and utter confusion.  Allow me to explain.

A few years ago, Dallin H. Oaks gave a talk called "Balancing Truth and Tolerance" that really resounded with me.  At a time when I was leaving home to go out into the world, it was nice to hear his words explaining how it is possible to cling to the truth I love, yet also be friendly and fair in regards to different beliefs and the people who practice them.  Tolerance was a good thing to have, a virtue even.  John F. Kennedy summed it up with: "Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs.  Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others."  Tolerance meant I could firmly stand for something and still love and care for the people who didn't stand with me.  But not anymore.

Today I learned that tolerance is merely a satisfactory middle ground for those who are civilized enough to step away from stereotypes and oppression, yet haven't been fully converted to the sacred level of Acceptance.  Apparently tolerance is now "so last year," and if you want to be a true spokesperson and model of equality, you need to accept everything out there.  Needless to say, this confuses me immensely.  I guess you could say I was raised in a home and time where standing for something was commendable, whether or not the people around you agreed.  However, today it's commendable to stand for standing for nothing, or rather, to stand for everything.  To me this just isn't standing.  It's more like the action a dandelion seed makes after being blown off the stem: floating, falling, and being blown any which way the breeze demands.

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The next thing I learned about was the "Alphabet Soup" of sexuality.  Apparently the acronym LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans) is no longer inclusive of all the orientations out there.  Nowadays the correct way to include everyone is LGBTTQQI2A, a conglomeration of letters that is continually changing and constantly growing.  Or in other words, confusing.  Don't get me wrong, my heart sincerely goes out to those people who find themselves questioning something so sacred.  However, there's a small part of me that can't help but wonder whether the reason this is being questioned is because there are so many options and because society is almost adamant that one does question this about themselves.

While this was the topic of discussion, a couple mothers of Junior High aged children mentioned that their kids were constantly bombarded at school by their peers over this topic.  "How can you be so sure that you're straight?"  Apparently if you haven't questioned this about yourself, you really can't say that you know.  My rebuttal is that if you're being forced to question something about yourself how can you ever be sure?  I can't help but feel like there is a bit of reverse discrimination happening in this situation.  If I can have tolerance and love for this community of people, why can't they have the same for the people who have never had to question this about themselves?

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The last thing I learned was that many of the seemingly innocent things that I say can be considered "cringe worthy" or "noninclusive."  For example, 

"She is beautiful and smart."

Can you pick out what I did wrong in saying a compliment like this?  Nowadays, pronouns are inching their way to becoming derogatory, because you just don't know if a person wants to be classified by that specific gender pronoun.  So by complimenting a person who appears to be a woman with the pronoun she, I may very well be creating an incredibly awkward situation or insulting them by using a pronoun they don't identify with.  What is the correct way to address people these days?  Stop using he, she, him, and her and begin using a genderless plural pronoun like them and they.  

Next, what is wrong with this statement?

"My husband's name is Jon."

Using the word "husband" obviously, since it denotes that I am in a straight woman married to a straight man.  If I wanted to be truly inclusive with my language in this situation, I would say, "My partner's name is Jon."

Care for another?  I promise this was literally an example used in the presentation:

"Diabetics need to watch their sugar intake."

Obviously it's noninclusive to people who have been diagnosed with diabetes.  The correct way to make this statement is that "Everyone needs to watch their sugar intake."  I can agree that watching what you eat is always a smart thing to do, regardless of your state of health, but let's take a step back here.  Isn't diabetes an actual, diagnosable medical condition that if not treated properly could put a person in a great deal of risk?  As a lifeguard, diabetic coma is a condition we're taught to look for and treat.  Say someone swimming at my place of work begins to experience low blood sugars to the point that they're slipping in and out of consciousness.  How am I supposed to fill in the First Aid Report Form?  How am I supposed to explain the emergency to EMS?  Could society literally be walking in the direction of making it politically incorrect to actually communicate when a person is in danger, simply because naming their condition is "noninclusive?"

I guess this is the part where I just stop talking.

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I guess the bottom line here is that I'm incredibly frustrated by the things presented to me at a "Professional Development."  I can't think of anything more professional than integrity, yet everything that was presented seems to be demanding that I change vital and important things about myself and what I stand for.  And isn't changing for the crowd or what's popular the polar opposite of integrity?  I feel like if I was to have verbally taken a stand back on Wednesday, I would have been shunned out of the room and seen as an incredibly close-minded and archaic person, which is really quite ironic because wouldn't that have been "noninclusive" of everyone else?  I honestly think society is stepping in a direction where values and lifestyles deemed as old-fashioned will be seriously discriminated against.  And what is even more terrifying is that although we live in a world of "equality" and "acceptance," I believe those that try to stand up for their old-fashioned beliefs will be violently reprimanded and accused of being discriminating and non-inclusive.

And so there you have it.  A great big, random rant.  Perhaps I feel so strongly about this because I'm about to have a baby that will soon grow into a kid, who will be eager to learn and gobble up everything about the world they live in.  How in the world am I supposed to teach a kid the difference between tolerance and acceptance; the sanctity of gender and sexuality; and just overall integrity if the world around them is so messed up and confusing?  If you have the answers, please do share.