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November 23, 2004
Letter to the Editor: PC? Ha. Don’t make me laugh.
The other day I was watching the movie Saved and I saw Macaulay Culkin in the wheelchair and almost laughed. Not because it was Macaulay Culkin but because there was someone in the wheelchair.
I know that’s bad, but it was for a reason. His character’s sister called him “differently abled.” That was funny.
Of course I then directed my thoughts to some other politically correct terms that we all know. “Mentally handicapped,” “physically challenged” and a few others. Those terms have sure got their reasons to exist, but there are others as well.
First, “aesthetically challenged.” To me, that just means ugly. For a person to be challenged in an area, they must be lacking, and if their aesthetic qualities are lacking, that simply means that I would rather sit through an entire HUSC meeting than look at them.
Next on the list is “vertically challenged.” That one’s easy. It’s for short people. My suggestion is just to call them short. I mean, seriouslyčthey are short.
If they’re midgets, call them midgets. If someone is a foot shorter than me, I’ll pretend not to see him or her by looking over his or her head. Call them short. They are.
One of my personal favorites, though, is “horizontally enhanced.” That one’s fun. If I see someone slightly resembling Jabba the Hutt, then I’m going to call them not “horizontally enhanced” but fat.
I know plenty of fat people myself, and when they sit on the end of the couch, I pretend to bounce from the weight shift. Because they’re not enhanced, they’re fat.
Now, all of this may seem mean and uncalled-for. Not politically correct. But that’s the point. Don’t be politically correct.
Don’t be subjected to confining labels that someone deemed proper or appropriate. But don’t do what I do, either.
What I propose, what I challenge, is that labels are dropped altogether. That is not a vertically challenged person, nor are they fat. They are people. These people aren’t mentally handicapped, nor are they retarded. They’re just people.
People are people. Giving them labels, no matter what the motivation, is wrong. What is really happening is that people are being segregated by these labels.
Segregation is something that has been deemed wrong for a long time, and yet it is still happening under the guise of being politically correct.
So accept my challenge. Accept my challenge and don’t look at people by what the common public thinks of them, but by the fact that they are people just like everyone else.
Eric Binfet
CLA Student
Posted by msveum at November 23, 2004 11:13 AM
Comments
"Inquiring minds like mine want to know"
This article is offensive to everyone and you should not call yourself a journalist because what you really are is a bigot and that is just wrong man you need to lighten up and realize that the brain requires labels in order to categorize or people will go insane with everyone being a people we need to know what type of people they are and if the term used to describe them is offensive or unkind then we need to come up with a kinder more gentle approach to deal with them as dumb as some of them are there are more appropriate then "fat" "ugly" and if all else fails say noting at all but you will think of the labels they are necessary and I completely disagree with you and your total disregard for people and I hope that you can see this perspective thanks
Posted by: Anonymous at November 23, 2004 02:12 PM
Well, to begin with, I never claimed to be a journalist. Journalists are governed by rules that they must obey, rules that are completely and utterly ridiculous. I choose not to govern myself by those rules so I can say what needs to be said and not have to worry about some heirarch telling me what I can and cannot say or think. If you want to think that labels are necessary, then you are only advancing the segregation that is already ever-too-present at Hamline and in the world. Think of that before you shout out the first thing that comes to your mind. Be responsible with your thoughts. Thanks.
Posted by: Eric Binfet at November 23, 2004 02:22 PM
Yeah, I don't recall Eric calling himself a journalist and as his opinion is being printed as a letter to the editor, it doesn't appear that anyone is considering him a journalist. Ah, the voice of the common people, a special thing.
Posted by: Logan Clark at November 29, 2004 09:43 PM
Mr. Binfet, where to begin where to begin? Your letter is clearly intentionally offensive, mostly I assume because you need more attention that you are currently getting. However, aside from dull and crass writing there is no actual substance to the article. You confuse the concepts of using appropriate labels for groups of people with pseudo PC terms that is mostly used for humor. Terms like "differently abled" are used in place of "crippled" because it is the preferred self-identification of people who fall into that group. Whereas a phase like "vertically challenged" is mostly used to be overly PC in order to cause a humorous effect. Using "short" to describe somebody who isn't tall is a perfectly acceptable adjective. There is no real reason to be PC in that situation.
When talking about people who fall into different groups, sometimes a label is needed. However, it is just as easy to say "differently abled" as it is to say "handicapped” It is just as easy to say "cognitive disability" as it is to say "retarded". The issue here is not forcing people to use politically correct language all the time. What is important is using words that will not hurt the feelings of another person. That's a very basic part of being a decent human being.
Finally at the end of your article you discuss labeling people as wrong, but this just shows your ignorance on the topic. "Differently abled" and "person of color" are not labels, they are adjectives. Just because somebody has a trait that is described with a PC term doesn't mean that term encompasses the person as a whole. I'm sure you have many qualities other than those that describe you in PC terms. To say you are an "unintelligent, uneducated, Caucasian, heterosexual male" would be accurate, but it wouldn't fully describe all of your attributes. But I forgot that you do not like PC terminology so I'll simply refer to you as a dumbass.
Posted by: Andrew Cole at December 4, 2004 04:16 PM
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