Because I believe in the 1st amendment, I believe all ideas and words are up for discussion. That is what free speech (and thought) actually is. I bring this up because a group of midgets have decided they want the word midget banned from public airwaves. They find the word offensive. Problem? I don’t, so now what? To be a group that suddenly decides a word is offensive makes that group more important than everyone else, and more important than free speech. Because I am such an advocate for the death of political correctness it is my duty to expose this foolishness.
We need a consensus from now on where we as a democratic process get to vote on whether a word is offensive or not. If the majority of the people don’t think so then that becomes law. I realize that there are offensive words. The word “nigger” for one has been eliminated from even use in discussion of it on T.V. If I am not mistaken the first time I heard the word called the “N” word was by Johnnie Cochran at the O J Simpson trial.
That word by the way didn’t start offensive either. It was a slang term when referring to Africans on American soil. There were many from the south that knew no other term and even used it in normal conversation. The problem came into existence when slaves were emancipated and consequently expected, rightfully so, to the full protection of the Constitution and the laws of the land. Because there was such a difficulty of assimilation amongst the whites who considered African-Americans less human than themselves the term “nigger” went from descriptive to demeaning.
That word has been eliminated from T.V. programs now. Ironically I once saw a show where the word “nigger” was bleeped out but the word “Jesus Christ” and goddammit were not. Offending a race in America is sin and forbidden. Offending the judge of sin is not.
As far as the midget word goes I know no one in my 40 plus years on earth that has ever considered the word midget offensive at all. What is most important by the way is the actual meaning of the word. In other words if a Midget said I find that word offensive and I say I find it describing someone who is disproportionally small in stature than the norm but having all appendages in proportion to their height than what is the problem? As a matter of fact Websters dictionary describes midgets as “one perfect of form and normal in function but like a tiny replica of the ordinary species”. It defines the word as a compliment.
Is it possible that you have actually created a notorious word where one did not previously exist? Are there no guidelines or absolutes we can all refer to in order to not be further restricted in speech in our society?
What if I was offended because you called me a man? Since man has always been used as a prefix to humanity as a whole (as in MAN-kind) couldn’t we declare it sexist and elitist? Though we couldn’t use the word woman anymore as well as it contains the word man thus proving our theory correct. Not to mention all the trans-gendered humans, (oops, there’s that evil word again) that really believe any reference to a specific gender is exclusionary and outmoded.
As much as I wish that were a humorous exercise sadly it is not. This is exactly what is happening daily thanks to liberal i.e. postmodern thought in America. So I for one will do what I can, while I can, to keep free speech alive, and welcome as many freethinking midgets as possible to join my cause.