ifeminists.com: A central gathering place and information center for individualist feminists.   -- explore the new feminism --
introduction | interaction | information

 
ifeminists.com > introduction > editorials
 


Afraid to Say What We Think
June 23, 2004
by Carey Roberts

Some persons may get a chuckle out of the term. But Political Correctness is an implacable force that we must come to terms with, or else accept the reality that our First Amendment freedoms may become irrevocably lost.

Political Correctness has its roots in Cultural Marxism. Cultural Marxists know that democratic capitalism cannot be overthrown by external force. So they seek to undermine Western society like a cancer attacking from within.

The politically-correct view all of history through the prism of power. For example, radical feminism teaches that in the past, men had all the power. That made men the unrelenting oppressors of women. So now men are obliged to make up for their past transgressions.

Experience proves that Political Correctness is difficult to counter because it is always justified by sentimental appeals to fairness and sensitivity.

The purveyors of PC began 20 years ago by discouraging the use of demeaning stereotypes and epithets directed against any racial, ethnic, or gender group. Who could argue with that?

An exception was made, however, for males, who were considered fair game for the crudest forms of denunciation.

Soon, campus speech codes began to sprout. In the workplace, speech codes became subsumed under the rubric of sexual harassment. If a boss called his secretary "honey" or a doctor referred to a patient as "dear," that could get him into trouble.

The next step in the unfolding PC campaign was the passage of hate speech legislation.

In 1999, the National Organization of Women and other groups unveiled the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which aimed to expand the scope of the existing hate crime laws to include gender and sexual orientation. When it floundered in committee, they changed the name of the bill to the benign-sounding Local Law Enforcement Act - the LLEA.

Just last week, five years of hard work paid off. The Senate approved the LLEA by a 65-33 vote. If the House of Representatives approves the bill and President Bush signs off, the LLEA soon will become the law of the land.

So what would happen if someone writes a book that portrays a protected group in a negative light? Could that be construed as a hate crime?

Actually, I didn't make that example up.

On June 10, legendary actress Brigitte Bardot was convicted in France and fined $6,000. Her offense? Including passages in her best-selling book, A Cry in the Silence, about the growing Islamic influence in Europe. The sections in question allegedly incited racial hatred against Moslems. However, a review of the passages in question reveals them to be provocative, but certainly not hateful.

Or what would happen if a person did a critique of feminist ideology - not attacking feminists as a group, just analyzing their philosophy? Could that get a person into hot water?

Again, that is not a hypothetical question.

Because just last year, the Canadian government published a report entitled "School Success by Gender: A Catalyst for the Masculist Discourse". The report concluded, "We also recommend that consideration be given to whether legal action can be taken under section 319 of the Criminal Code."

And what is section 319 of the Criminal Code? Why, that's the Canadian hate crimes law.

And what are the crimes of the accused? According to the indictment in the Executive Summary, "The results of our analysis of the masculist discourse reveal an ideology that aims to challenge the gains made by women and discredit feminism."

Exactly who are the perpetrators of this ideological crime? The report lists persons like Christina Hoff Sommers, author of the expose, Who Stole Feminism? Accusing a woman of being hateful to other women - apparently the irony of that was lost to authors of the report.

And if you've been following the story about the Affirmative Action Bake Sales on college campuses, you know that the move to ban certain forms of political expression has gained a solid foothold in the United States, as well.

First Cultural Marxism. Then Political Correctness. And now the LLEA. Take me to my grave, but I'm going to stoutly resist anybody telling me what I can say and what I can think.


 
ifeminists.com > home | introduction | interaction | information | about

ifeminists.com is edited by Wendy McElroy; it is made possible by support from The Independent Institute and members like you.