Sarah Prohens 

Ms. Boyle 

Eng 160 

11/14/21 

 

Political Correctness

How do you know what political content is appropriate and respectful enough to post? With it people are able to voice their opinions much more accessible and publicized than ever before. Now there are countless ways of posting and seeing others’ opinions online. Everywhere you look whether it’s on Instagram, Snapchat, and even Tik Tok can become very politicalized from people sharing their opinions on current events. This has led to a large spread of awareness through the past few years. Many repost opinionated articles on instagram from political accounts that share their ideas of what they believe should be “politically correct”. Teaching kids and people how to appropriately spread awareness and learn how not to discriminate against all.  Posting about being politically correct on social media can have a variety of meanings. The main basis for being politically correct is finding a way to voice your opinion without harming or insulting minority groups. Posting about killing stereotypes, sexual orientation, pronouns,  and freedom of speech are all strong examples of staying politically correct. Not discriminating against specific groups and cultures is the main idea of starting to become politically correct. Saying the correct pronouns, not assuming the way a person acts and stereotyping them, and creating a safe space for minorities is more important than many realize. 

Political Correctness can be shown all through your daily life and is something many people need to practice. Showing support to all communities by using the correct pronouns to whomever you are talking to is an important way of showing your alliance and political views by accepting others and making the LGBTQIA+ and people of color feel accepted. Being gay is not the only way to show your alliance and being straight doesnt make you a threat to the community. By understanding the culture and understanding the importance of gay rights is just one step to becoming more politiclally allined with the times. Imagine being a transgender male and walking into a store and feeling threatened and targeted by the environment from an unaccepting nature of the place. Creating a safe environment for everyone to enjoy is another example of political correctness.  It has only been a few years since coming out as transgendered has been legalized by the United States and before then, you could get arrested if you only wore three clothing accessories from the opposite gender. With these ideas still embedded in many people’s ideologies can create a hostile and unhealthy environment for many members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Activist Sylvia Revera became famous for talking about the transgendered rights movement before they were accepted by the gay community. She stood up for herself around people who were already trying to stand up for a cause that for the time was also an unrealistic time for gay rights to be granted. She showed political correctness by joining with other transgendered activists and created the STAR organization which created affordable housing and advice for homeless transgendered and gay children searching for guidence in New York City. In her famous speech she explains that showing support for all minority groups at all times is equally as important as exposing one. Showing the truth and accepting everyone is more than important because not only does it make people feel safer, but it affects their mental health and their lifestyle. By creating a safe space for these teenagers, Rivera became on of the most imposrtant transgender women in history and was way before her time. This act of political correctness shows that there is help and guidance out there for others in search of help as well. 

Stereotypes play a massive role in social media and even in some people’s lives. Many stereotypes have been classified by ethnicity, gender, age, and sexual identity. These stereotypes fit in with the media and could even affect your social media analytics. Stereotypes can be displayed all through media like television. In one study conducted by a sixth grade class showed their students 4 different video clips from the shows Modern Family, Dance Moms, Duck Dynasty, and Honey Boo Boo. In the clip from dance moms Abby (the dance teacher) told Nia who was the only cast member who was black do an ethnic styled dance called “They Call Me Laquifa”. In the clip you can visibly see Nia’s mother get upset because she felt as if her daughter was being racially disrespected. One of the sixth grade class members said along with this video that if she put herself in Nia’s shoes, she would feel discriminated against for being forced into wearing, dancing, and listening to what Abby made her do. However In the  clip from Duck Dynasty, the main female character gets mansplained by the male main character because she was a girl. When asking the sixth grade class to analyze the videos they watched and chose one example, the majority chose to write about body image and reframed from discussing race. The students even went as far as to say how people should try to live up to the stereotypes that are made out for them. This is seen all over social media today where people judge and make assumptions based off of what your profile portrays itself as. If someone is mildly obesse the assumption or stereotype that can be given is that they either have diabetes or they dont take care of themselves when in reality that could not be the case. This can be assumed with the musician Lizzo who is larger than the average actor or singer. Although she is obese, that doesnt mean that she has diabetes or doesnt work out, but that she focuses more on body positivity and not what others might think.  

Freedom of speech on the internet has a very large platform where you can practice political correctness and how to properly voice your opinions online. In the past social media had been used as a weapon and when used by the wrong people can bring massive riots and mad hysteria. Prime minister David Camaron had incidents where when he posted on facebook and twitter would cause flash mobs after posting on social media. This shows how different social media can play a role in life based on political beliefs and  how influenced a person can be (a corruption cosiness. Cover story). Another case similar to the breakouts in England was the january 6th riots when hundreds of republicans stormed the capital building and destroyed legal documents and expensive furniture and decorations. Before the riot broke out ex President Donald Trump held a rally in order for the impeachment trials to fail and allow him to stay president. Recently more information has been given out and found that the entire operation had been set up beforehand and manipulated the crowd to believe they were doing an act of activism but really were influenced by Donald Trump and his team. Social media plays a huge role in influencing flash mobs and riots because not only does it fuel the anger and destruction of the crowd but gives people more ideas on how to continue to make the situation worse and worse. Showing Political correctness in a time like this is so important because never will an impulsive, insulting, and rude act like these come out in favor of everyone. 

Political correctness can be shown in countless ways. Showing support for all communities including Black, White, LGBTQIA+, and showing support for basic human and ethical rights is where being politically correct really shows. Supporting these groups not only helps influence change in the government and the eyes of the main population of the world, but creates an open and idealistic way of living for everyone. Without showing support and allowing the policial opinions from others to be heard, transgenders would still be on the streets, homosexuals would stay closeted, and the world would stay constiutinalized forever. Being politically correct is more than agreeing with the minorities around you but helping them live the lifestyle that they wish they could live instead of living through someone else’s shadow. 

 

Mayora, Gabriel, Her Stonewall Legend: The Fictionalization of Sylvia Rivera in Nigel Finch’s Stonewall, Centro Jurnal, Vol. 30 Issue 2, 2018

Bher, Rafeal, A corrupting cosiness. (cover story), New Statesmen, Vol. 140 Issue 5063, 2011

Kessler, Edward, Social Media and the Movement of ideas,  European Judaism, Vol. 46 Issue 1, 2013,