Political Correctness

Over the last week or so, I have been giving some thought to the notion of political correctness as it relates to an event that’s happening in my home town. I’ll explain a bit more about that event as we go, but first let’s look at this term itself. "Political correctness” has been with us for a while. It was first used in the 18^th Century in American political and legal discourse to describe what the words actually mean: to be correct in one’s political positions- to be consistent in one’s political intent and political behavior. The term became very much in vogue with early 20^th century Communists who also used it quite properly in extolling Communists to be true to, or correct in their Communists’ beliefs. Now, of course, “political correctness” (PC) is only used in the pejorative. That is, the term is used as an insult to those who are seen as over-sensitive to a fault. For someone to be called ‘politically correct” is to say that they have adopted a sensitivity to certain words, actions, groups, or alliances that take them to the level of just being silly: “Oh look at you being so PC- why don’t  you just lighten up?”

I think we’ve all been in situations where our old colloquialisms are politely challenged by someone suggesting that our words aren’t permitted anymore, because new forms of political correctness suggests that a better term would be more sensitive, and thus more “correct”. We don’t refer to “Negroes”- they are African Americans; we don’t use the word “Indian”, instead we say Native American; we don’t discuss Homosexual marriage, we discuss Gay Marriage. And the list goes on and on. So let me say for the record I’m quite glad we have political correctness! For all the fun that is made about the need for some people to be “politically correct”, it is a good thing because changing our language as a culture is one of the most important ways we change our behavior as a culture. More and more as I observe our culture and the politics that exists within it, I’m convinced that our conflicts and our polarization comes, in large part, from the language we use to describe each other and our behaviors towards one another. It is no coincidence that those who most ridicule and chide us for our political correctness are those who cling to old ways and refuse to be taken to a more enlightened place. The pejorative “political correctness” is merely a push-back against those who would take us to that better place.

So many of our biases and bigoted thoughts are deeply embedded in the language we use to describe people. It is almost a “chicken and egg” question. Which came first, the words we use about some people (queer, bitch, (N-word), spic, wet-back, lib, whore, red-neck, slut, chink, Injun, fag, etc.) or our prejudices about them? One thing I believe wholeheartedly is that actual prejudice, bigotry, and hatred cannot live long without the language we install to support it. So this movement to provide actual “correctness” to describe people is a good thing, in spite of the ridicule some people apply to the process. It got the name correctness because it is –more correct!

That brings me to the incident happening in my community right now. Last week a new bar had its Grand Opening in our downtown area. The place is called The Spokane Daiquiri Factory. The Daiquiri Factory is as the name implies. It is a night club that specializes in those fruity, frozen drinks people just love. Of course they needed to come up with some clever names for the many flavors of those drinks, and some of the names pay homage to local icons. But one of the drinks is called a Date Grape Koolaid. It is an all-too-clever (but not funny) play on words. But let’s think about those words for just a minute in terms of political and social correctness.  

Date Grape Koolaid is being advertised as a date RAPE drink. No other meaning can be derived from this drink’s name. When the menu list of daiquiri drinks first came out the response was instant. A protest and a social media  boycott campaign started up including a placard carrying group of people who showed up for the Grand Opening trying to dissuade patrons from going in. The message was very clear from those who demanded a change- they wanted the management to change the name of the drink and apologize for such insensitivity to rape victims and women in general. This whole scene started to garner a bit of news media attention and over the last week some national news outlets have begun to spread the story. As of this writing the manager has not given in to the protests and has, in fact, fanned the flames a bit himself by suggesting publicly that this is just political correctness gone awry. He explains that the drink’s name isn’t an insensitive gesture, but a sophisticated joke that the rest of us just don’t get. Apparently we are just too stupid to know that “Date Grape” doesn’t actually refer to “date rape”. His ardent defense of the defenseless and his self-congratulatory smugness only serves to make this episode even more unseemly.

I personally loath what his establishment is doing. It does indeed refer to rape- and that is one of those subjects that demands the highest level of political correctness we can give it. For anyone to suggest that the subject of rape is something to be joked about or used as a promotion, means they simply don’t know the facts; or they are out to openly promote violence towards women. In either case- it is wrong!

Here’s why rape isn’t funny or cute, and should never be construed as such. Rape is the most serious human violation of both body and spirit short of murder. 82% of all known survivors say that rape PERMANENTLY changes them. Up to 84% of all rape victims knew their attacker. There are 237,800 sexual assault victims each year. 75 % of men and 55% of women involved in acquaintance rapes were drinking or using drugs (making this case a particularly egregious and insensitive choice). 60% of all sexual assaults are never reported to the police and of those that are, only 16% of the rapists go to prison. Of all rapes, reported and unreported, only 5% of rapists go to jail. What these statistics say is that we live in a culture that promotes, in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, violence towards women. This begs the question of why we would accept a business using a product to promote more violence toward women.

There are some things that require true political correctness. This topic is one of them. If you think this is acceptable and just another case of over-sensitivity, imagine using the same logic in some other areas. Can you imagine the reaction to a drink name mocking a disabled veteran? (The G. I. Gimpy Gimlet) Or an Alzheimer’s sufferer? (The Memory Loss Martini) How about a drink promoting mass shootings at schools? (Columbine Shooters) No one would stand for that one minute, and the public outcry would be so great that any businessperson would immediately change their ways- even if they were crass enough to do it in the first place. But, when it comes to violence against women- and most particularly the vile act of rape, it just becomes a war of words on Facebook- instead of a harmonious societal revolt. I was shocked at some of the early responses I saw on the social media sites- some even written by women who suggested there ought to be more important things to worry about than the name of a drink. That is just another way to say the objections are just misplaced political correctness getting in the way of having some fun.

There is a place for political correctness, in fact there are a number of places for it. I keep wishing that we could stop taking sides and really think about what is truly right and wrong without first jumping to the conclusion that any issue needs to be measured by our political positions. This case is an excellent example of the problem. Before we jump to the conclusion that attempts to change this “rape drink’s” name is just a bunch of “libs” trying to do away with free speech, and spoil our fun- it might be good to think about how hurtful (unnecessarily hurtful) this crassness is to so many women. That should be a universally held position, not influenced by one's political leanings. If ever there was a situation that so clearly called for political correctness, this is it. This is more than just a clever play on words meant to cajole us in to noticing a product. This is an insult to our culture that is devoid of moral decency- because it is ethically and morally bankrupt in its disregard for women. Because words and language are the very soul of a culture, I would like to see a real resurgence in, and respect for true political correctness so things like this won’t see the light of day again.

Thanks for looking in.