Summary [Word Police]

12:56 AM

     Michiko Kakutani delineates the concept of political correctness as she despises the movements to attract attention to this subject, as for this does not address important social and political issues. She mentions a store in Washington called "Politically Correct" that sells gear relating to the topic, such as T-shirts, bumper stickers and buttons and that the mascot of Coppertone suntan lotion would be given a male equal, pointing out the extents people go through in order to achieve their desires and to avoid the ridicule of others. She then goes to mention euphemisms in order to address politically correct language, such as saying "ovarimony" instead of "testimony" or "waitron" rather than "waitress". This simply replaces biased words and phrases for the satisfaction of those who are protective of who they are, and what they are. She explains the methods people would go through to promote an inclusive society, so no one would feel ostracized or left out, based on what they are. She then speaks about male superiority in comparison to females such as using 'jockey' as an example, implying the need for change in our norm today. She thinks that this entire notion is completely unnecessary, that if we were going to have this, then we might as well re-title a lot of other books, such as her instance of "All the King's Men" to be  re-titled to "All the Ruler's People". Kakutani believes that making these changes would not remove the prejudice that people have, but rather formulate a bias that was initially meant to remove that. The constraint of specific words and phrases was originally devised in order to create a pacifistic society, but rather she believes that it only stirs up more catastrophe and hate and goes against what diversity truly means.

Thank you for reading! Regards, Jessica

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