Only two episodes of "The Bachelorette" had aired when I started writing this article, but I’d pretty much figured that Chad is the Donald Trump of this season. I know Daniel has already compared Chad to both Hitler and Trump (gosh, that sounds familiar) in the third episode and it’s easy to see why: Chad makes childish remarks and then pretends like the others started it, becomes defensive at the drop of a hat, shows off for no reason at all, thinks he’s better than everyone else but is honest and “tells it how it is” which is why people (at least, JoJo and other outsiders) like him. Of course, reality TV and politics are totally different, right? I mean, one of them isn’t scripted, edited, and then televised with an agenda by the people with money—oh wait.
I didn’t actually write this article to bash on either politics or "The Bachelorette," though I have plenty to say about both. My personal biases (somewhat) aside, I wanted to talk about honesty and respectfulness. We live in a world of political correctness, where everything has a very specific label yet no one wants to be labeled. We also spend so much of our lives on the internet, where if you make an offensive post on some social media site, heaven help you, especially if that post is on Tumblr. So in this world, we have the choice to be politically correct or deemed as an ignorant, prejudiced, bigot who doesn’t understand our privilege.
It’s totally understandable, then, that people are tired of political correctness. People are tired of not being able to say what they want, lest someone become offended. As a result, when someone comes into the picture, someone who has no filter, who doesn’t give a rip about who he or she offends, it’s like a breath of fresh air. Finally, someone who is honest! Finally, someone whose true feelings you will never question! Finally, someone who will tell the truth.
I get it. I tire of needing to watch what I say, too. Sometimes, tough love and brutal honesty is needed. However, my question is what makes it suddenly permissible for a person to make prejudiced and rude comments? Why do people excuse comments that degrade other human beings in the name of honesty? Is it really so impossible to be both honest and respectful? Is it impossible to express your opinion in a way that is not inflammatory and respects the opposing side?
No, of course it’s not. You can be honest and assert your opinion without attacking your opponent on irrelevant levels. You can be respectful while telling the truth. I know, it’s hard to believe, but they aren’t opposites. In fact, both honesty and respect are quite necessary qualities for people who work with other people in various contexts. Throughout your life, you are going to disagree with people and people will disagree with you. Surprise! However, what comes out of your mouth in those situations says much more about you than it does about them.
I understand Donald Trump and Chad are two very extreme examples of people who begrudge political correctness. Yet, seeing people’s reactions to them makes me question how many people value their “freedom of speech” over respecting their fellow human beings.
And that concerns me.
