The end of the school year makes me think about how much my life changed in the last year. It also leaves me thinking about how the world around me changed, and this year I'm concerned. It doesn’t feel like society moved in a positive direction. If anything, the world became more disappointing.
Self-censorship is at an all-time high. People are no longer free to voice their opinions without fear of being shot down by political correctness. It is possible to voice an opinion without being disrespectful, but political correctness goes too far when opinions differ from that of the majority. The only way to make progress on the social justice front is to encourage conversations, not shut them down.
Everyone is afraid to step on anyone else’s toes. As a result, no one can ask the questions necessary to help understand different ways of life. The fear of being offensive is driving American society apart, and we cannot come together unless we are okay fumbling in the name of learning. Making mistakes is the best way to correct them, but now we can’t make mistakes without fearing being beaten up virtually.
The internet doesn’t need to get up in arms over accidentally noninclusive language. It’s hard enough for people on the internet to build up the courage to put their voices out there without being concerned that they very social justice community they are addressing will tear them down. Feminists on the internet making a point by saying all women have vaginas is meant to be a statement of inclusion and solidarity among women. It’s not mean to exclude transgender women from the conversation. But people take minor offenses at their surface value. People shut down and ignore the rest of whatever the argument was and attack the author based on one line.
The result? That author may or may not post again, but the next time they do they will be self-censoring themselves and adjusting their argument not in the name of inclusion, but in the name of fear.
Picking on and bashing people for making mistakes in their use of language doesn’t teach, it creates unnecessary fear. There are ways to voice opinions respectfully, and there are ways to point out non-inclusive language respectfully. However, none of these ways include Twitter bashing.
We don’t need to encourage self-censoring on the internet any more than we already have. We need to encourage people to put their voice out there to continue the conversations, but that is impossible to do if the internet is hostile territory. Political correctness is important to promote treating everyone with the respect they deserve, but the first response to a misstep should always be to educate and never to degrade someone for making a mistake.
