Politically Correct or Perfectly Crazy

PC can sometimes stand for perfectly crazy. I'm just sayin' ... what seems to qualify as Politically Correct these days can leave you scratching your head or screaming like a lunatic.

Take for example the brouhaha about our basketball-crazy President who loves to gather his boys (don't even go there ... I didn't mean it that way) for a pick-up game every now and then, or apparently a more formal tournament from time to time that may include groups outside the usual insiders. If you are like me, you will find it impossible to believe that some have questioned why there are no women included. If I am a woman, and I am, and I am not offended, which I'm not, by being excluded from guys' pick-up basketball games, which have been going on ever since that fellow hung the peach basket and threw a round ball up and hoped it went in and then decided to award points when it did, then I think it's ok to point out that this is not where the women's rights movement needs to spend its time and energy. Surely no one is going to try to make a case for integration of the sexes in basketball. Let the boys have their games, for God's sake. (I was going to tell the women to "go shopping" while the boys are playing but thought better of it. Not nearly PC enough even for this piece.)

And then there was the story about how many rounds of golf our President has played while in office, not one of which included a woman in his foursome. Of course, shortly after, a woman from the administration (reportedly a good player) was seen in her golf clothes ready to join the President for a round. Whether that was actually a response to the media exposing the singular gender of all of the President's golf buddies or not, it sure looked like it. Do we actually need a token woman in this role? Shoot me if you must, but actually the golf experience does change when a woman joins an otherwise male outing. The guys just can't be the guys, you know, with the beer swigging and the betting and the cursing when the ball hooks out of bounds (surprisingly often, by the way, the pain of which seems to be remarkably lessened by words that begin with "f" or "s"). When a woman is along, the guys feel they have to behave themselves, which is no fun. So don't kid yourself. There's no equality involved.

Moving on to the theatre, it was announced last week that the revival of The Miracle Worker on Broadway would star Abigail Breslin, the young film star nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Little Miss Sunshine. Immediately the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, an advocacy group for blind and deaf actors, weighed in saying they strongly opposed the producers' decision not to audition actresses who had Ms. Keller's disabilities. The producer stated that the only way they could attract investors with the reasonable expectation of a financial return was to cast a star, a box office draw, and a disabled actress who met that requirement simply could not be found. The Executive Director of the advocacy group was quoted in the New York Times as saying "I understand how difficult it is to capitalize a new production on Broadway, but that to me is not the issue. There are other, larger human and artistic issues at stake here." That is all well and good, but if you cannot raise the money to mount the production, no actress will get the part but worse yet, no audience will be exposed to this remarkable play. And as for selecting a very young actress to carry the considerable weight of this show, the producers have a responsibility to their investors, the playwright, and the audience to make the best choice on all levels. That would include the experience and talent to take on one of the most challenging and celebrated roles of all time as well as the visibility to attract an audience to support the cost of the production. No actor is owed any role for any reason. (Julie Andrews learned that the hard way when, after her Broadway triumph in My Fair Lady, Hollywood star Audrey Hepburn was chosen to play the role in the movie even though she was not a singer.) It is hard to imagine that the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts is concentrating their efforts on trying to dictate casting for the show rather than finding every way possible to insure the success of this wonderful piece of American theatre featuring such an inspiring triumph over unthinkable disability starring one of the most gifted young actresses working today.

I was going to leave you with some cool examples of Politically Correct language but apparently it is politically incorrect to reprint such lists without permission so, for your own protection, be careful when you speak about manholes, gifted children, old people, white lies, flip charts, manning anything, founding fathers, and black sheep.

I recently gave a radio interview about my book, Silver Platter Girl, and the host encouraged his listeners to be sure to come back after each commercial break because I was so willing to tell it like it is, so transparent, not PC at all. That I dared to openly discuss sexual abuse on the radio apparently made me not Politically Correct. That's perfectly crazy, of course, but that's another blog.

 

Comments

[1088]

I'm sorry to spoil the party, for the media only want to see President Obama with a female so that they can snap pictures of them together, and try to smear him against his wife. Nobody cared wither or not if Bush played golf with a woman partner or not. So why now?

[propitiousmoment]

Meanwhile, female congresspersons are shouted down by the men when they try to speak (see HuffPost article today). The problem with guys going on golf especially, or other sports outings, is that so much business gets transacted on the golf course or in those other boys' clubs, which means women are effectively shut out of ultimate decision-making. Obama may not be doing that, but the symbolism is certainly there. He's interested in a lot of stuff, maybe there are some women who would prefer long bike rides to basketball games, or something. If he's going to make a big deal about reaching the hand of friendship by way of friendly socializing with all parties, he should do it in a way that truly includes "all" parties. Nothing wrong with guys' night out or whatever, unless it's only that all the time. And it's true that the dynamics do change when there in mixed company, but the idea that men should be more careful of their language merely because women are present is a bit dated in this day and age, is it not? - speaking as a female with a great affinity for cuss-words :) Misogynist comments are another matter; if they have to clean that up because women are present, they should be learning not to speak or think that way in the first place.

[fem56]

Those guys better not join us on our shopping trips not that we normally buy anything but we do a lot of looking and talking. Men are just an annoyance on such outings.
One of my unpolitical correct areas of interest is boys' education. i think special programs for boys should be developed just like special programs for girls and people look at me like I am crazy. These programs are working great for girls so why wouldn't they work for boys? The boys are in the minority at most colleges and where they are not there is a big push for gender parity. All these boys were born in the 90's and 21st century. Are these boys all gifted with a maturity or special awareness that girls don't have? I have yet to notice it.

[propitiousmoment]

No, they are gifted with the privileges of maleness that are still built into our system.

[BurtonOerney]

Sixth grade boys have privileges that sixth grade girls don't? When I'm at school, it seems like most of the games girls like to play are just fine with the adults while most of the games boys like to play are too rough and often get some boys in trouble. Just an observation. I also notice that in every class, every year, there are more than a few boys who have a much harder time sitting still and paying attention than anybody else in the class. It's always boys. Our solution is to try to force these kids to want to do different things, think and feel differently by disciplining them. It seems like a program that addresses behavioural issues that only occur with boys is pretty much the same thing as a program trying to get girls to be less shy about speaking or to perform better in math and science.

Or we could just start punishing these boys early for the sexism and privilege they're bound to promote as adults.