Monday 27 May 2013

Politically Correct my Bottom...

I grew up in a family where we didn't swear - not because of other reason than my parents didn't like the sound of swearing and found it unnecessary to use extensive bad language to make a point.

So I am not being politically correct in not using offensive language I just carry my upbringing lovingly with me.

Btw, that was just to exlain why it reads 'bottom' and not something else...

Polically correct terms, then?

We had Sambo Negerkys (Negro Kiss) - fluffy sweet whipped eggwhite covered in dark chocolate and with a wafer base. They renamed them to Samba Creamrolls in order to diassociate from the book Little Black Sambo.
I used to eat Zulu licorice as well. And this is in Denmark, of course, where political correctness has been known to be non-existent - but turns out to be alive and thriving nevertheless. So there goes my excuse!

I suppose we change our minds and our language over time and you could argue that the names are rather stereotypical based on past times ignorance and booth-putting so perhaps the times of change just blew the naming terms right across the idea table and out the window.

In Sainsbury's you can buy Marie Bicuits which are plain biscuits but when we added dark chokolate to one side we changed the name to Black-Marie Biscuits.

Apparently Tintin who had a comic book called 'Tintin in Tibet' in China is called the very politically correct 'Tintin in Chinese Tibet'.

Political correctness?

I run workshops and training and I am not the most politically correct person around but I never mean any harm or offense to anyone, I never mean to be rude or make hurtful comments in any way, and I am pretty sure people know - at least I hope they do and if all else fails I refer back to my country of origin! If people intend to come on my courses to learn what everyone else teaches then the learning objective for my classes is removed and we would all be wasting our time, money and efforts altogether.

I love what I do and I love the people I work with and who join me laughing on my trainings and workshops - we are all the same and we want the real laughter, and the real words, and the real honesty - that's why we do what we do and make that change proactively.

Political correctness? Baa baa black sheep have you any wool...

When do we decide enough is enough?

Yes, things have changed over the years but we have our load of baggage and history and heritage to pass on - both for own culture and the culture of others, that is our responsibility.

'I'm Black, White and Asian'
Of course, with all the information that is being downloaded to our hungry minds and hearts, for some it can be challenging to decide the truth from the less truthful blurb and make the good choice and well-informed decisions. All these different 'isms' that make people withdraw from certain groups of other people because of cultural, policical, racial, religious or other differences... Haven't we had enough?

Orange had a slogan many years ago, 'A stranger is just a friend you haven't met'. How about adopting this way of viewing each other and let the hostility vapourise.

And soon there will be miles of smiles!

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