political correctness

Question 1

how does the prefix ‘dis’ show prejudice

Answer 1

prefix ‘dis’ draws attention to what the person being described can’t do
eg. disabled

Question 1

what is semantic derogation + example

Answer 1

over time meanings of some neutral words change and become insults
eg. spastic

Question 2

how do titles show prejudice + example

Answer 2

• some would argue that the titles we use when we address people are inherently sexist
• women are labeled ‘Miss’ or “Mrs’ depending on their martial status

Question 3

an example of a default assumption showing prejudice

Answer 3

many argue that we still automatically assume the word ‘doctor’ refers to a man while ‘nurse’ refers to a woman

Question 4

how do suffixes show prejudice

Answer 4

• feminisation of the word belittles or undermines women as the masculine form came first and is the ‘norm’
• some words can also lead to female invisibility eg. ‘chairman’

Question 5

how does labelling show prejudice + examples

Answer 5

• words can be used to discriminate against and exclude them (eg ‘n-word’)
• words also carry negative connotations (eg ‘black’

Question 6

what is linguistic determinism

Answer 6

• language influences the way we perceive the world, so language predisposes us to look at the world in a certain way
• language determines thought

Question 7

what is the empty drum anecdote by Sapir-Whorf

Answer 7

• a man flicked his lit cigarette into an empty petrol drum - obviously it exploded because it wasn’t ‘empty’ - it was filled with explosive gas vapours.
• the explosion was caused by the semantics of the word empty and the way this affected the workers view of reality

Question 8

what was the Newspeak dictionary in George Orwells 1984 novel about

Answer 8

• the party in the novel is putting together a dictionary where the vocabulary gets smaller every year
• this is supposed to limit thought as we express our thoughts through our language

Question 9

what is linguistic reflectionism

Answer 9

• the language we use reflects how we experience the world and doesn’t determine how we think
• thought before language

Question 10

what is an example of language reflectionism

Answer 10

sexist or racist individuals will choose to use sexist or racist words which reflect their attitudes

Question 11

what is the euphemism treadmill (Pinker)

Answer 11

named for the process whereby words introduced to replace an offensive word, over time become offensive themself

Question 12

give an example of the euphemism treadmill

Answer 12

idiot, imbecille, moron

Question 13

arguments for political correctness

Answer 13

• certain attitudes should prevail
• Politically incorrect language is offensive and demeaning
• language can change peoples attitudes
• PC language is inclusive
• if vocabulary we learn and use makes people sound inferior or different, we are likely to treat them as if they are inferior or different

Question 14

arguments against political correctness

Answer 14

• restricts freedom of expression
• PC is doctoral and tries to control the way we think
• PC goes to ridiculous extremes
• leads to euphemisms that don’t ‘tell it as it is’
• reflects social attitudes
• euphemism treadmill
• by focusing on language we ignore the real practical struggles for equality people have

Question 15

what is political correctness

Answer 15

PC is avoiding language that can insult, offend or exclude minority groups, such as race, gender and disability groups