Let's have a common sense party please!

I think we’re all aware that language evolves, what was acceptable twenty years ago may not be now. But I still think people are way too sensitive.

Apart from this I don’t do social media at all, best to avoid it I think.

Give an example then lady. What do you not speak your mind about ?

Sara give an example and then we can discuss it.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

So you can't say you think James Bond can be played by a black man, even though you've just said it. Did you know James Bond isn't real?

Suziewoozie

Well I never have, and never would say any of those things, I know they’re offensive, but yes, I think it’s best to rise above comments like that, they say a lot more about the person saying them.

I don’t suppose I’d take too kindly to being called a fat white ugly bitch, but I wouldn’t think it was agist or racist, just that the person calling me that, was a rude and unpleasant person.

You are perfectly free to express your opinion that James Bond shouldn't be played by a black man, ladymuck. It's not, IMO, racist. It would have been racist if you'd said that it shouldn't be because black men can't act...

However, you've chosen a really daft example because the theatre, and opera, have a long history of roles being played by people who don't 'fit' them. Shakespeare's women were played by boys, the principle boy in pantomime is always played by a woman, white actors blacked up to play Othello. Is The Cherry Orchard as performed in the UK not 'right' because the actors aren't Russians?

Theatre is colour, race and gender blind; it always has been.

Have you a better example for us?

I think that there is a huge difference between people saying awful things like the ones in SW's post (which should be beyond the pale, IMO) and the situation the OP describes where people are 'scared to speak because someone is waiting to catch them out', or similar. That is a nonsense.

If someone really feels that they want to say things that others would find so offensive that they would be called out on them, then maybe they should think about why this is?

I do understand that sometimes it can be difficult to express something as the accepted words can change over time, but this is a slight awkwardness that can be avoided by just asking what the right word is now. That is a small price to pay in return for learning how not to cause upset to someone.

I would much rather learn a new way to express something (how hard is it, after all?) than go through life insisting that I have a right to cause upset or offence to people by refusing to learn.

So what were people saying when the voted "leave" in the referendum, which politicians should have known?

What exactly could a "common sense party" do to ensure that people feel comfortable saying whatever it is they want to say?

People can be as rude as they like, unless they're breaking specific laws. However, they shouldn't be surprised if other people object or (in extreme circumstances) give them a bloody nose.

I'd also like to know who these people are who "tell us what we must think or act". I'm honestly not aware of some undercover thought police chastising people for not being "politically correct".

Sorry I think this idea that political correctness has gone mad and is stopping people saying things is completely false. There are plenty of people out there saying offensive things. If someone is thinking they may get challenged about something they say maybe it's because they realise their views aren't really acceptable.

Periods of polarization in society provide people with the opportunity to discuss matters openly- Some make every effort to do so in good form, some don't- Either way you choose to present your view, be prepared to have your ass handed to you kindly or on a silver platter by someone with an opposing view-

A forum member expressed her concerns regarding her daughter traveling to Pakistan with her family- She was belittled and labeled a racist for expressing said concerns by another member from atop her perambulating pedestal- Who, days later, was labeled the same for peddling a cemented concern about China as fact- Her pedestal tipped, and she landed, cake and ass in hand, tiara athwart ..

No need to say "sorry" *trisher. I agree with you. I'm baffled by the idea that people voted "leave" because they had somehow been prevented from saying what they really thought. What on earth did they want to say and what have they actually achieved?

Ahah ladymuck what a pathetic get out. You can use * and quotation marks to say practically anything on here you want. If you are directing it at another poster or stating it as a fact, it might be against the guidelines. Maybe HQ is part of the conspiracy? One place you can go and say anything and I mean anything is the DM BTL comments. Or any meeting with TR and his supporters.

Bond, James Bond, is just an idea of a guy .. nothing he does is specifically white-

Actually rose James Bond is not just ‘ an idea of a guy’.
If you read the books Bond is described and so is his background which fits in with the British intelligence service
At that particular time.
I have no objection to a man of any race/colour playing the part these days, because times are different, and are not based on the books ( ran out of books some time ago.) They are just film scripts now.
To Bond purists though, he will always be a white British man as the original books indicated.

I don't understand why James Bond couldn't be played by a black actor. I haven't seen the latest David Copperfield with Dev Patel in the main role but I did hear the film review. The conclusion was it simply didn't matter what colour or gender any of the characters were, what mattered was the brilliant production of a much loved Dickens novel. I've never liked, much less loved Bond but I honestly can't see why he has to remain as white and misogynist as he was originally written.

But the films aren't set back in the fifties or whenever they were written- they are fantasy novels and the film scripts are considerably updated so has the casting - . James Bond is not a real person any more than Dr Who - now a woman- shock horror.! Idris Elba would be a fab Bond.

Sara65 seems to be the only one who has got the point. The point is not feeling unable to say something, but the fact that we CAN'T speak our minds when we wish to.

What on earth CANT you say?

doodledog I would much rather learn a new way to express something (how hard is it, after all?) than go through life insisting that I have a right to cause upset or offence to people by refusing to learn.

Apparently attempting to be kind and thoughtful isn’t actually “common sense”.

Any society which doesn't want to be constantly at war with each other has protocols for accepted behaviour. It's in the society's best interests not to kill each other. Surely accepted behaviour includes being respectful.

Maybe there is some middle way. I think there is a difference between dropping a clanger and deliberately trying to offend.

I am committed to a

. Oops.
I am committed to a womans right to choose, there are not many issues I feel more strongly about. Recently at a freshers fair in a university, those who dont agree with abortion were forbidden to hold a stall. I feel more uneasy about them being banned than anything that they as an organisation could have said
Germaine Greer has been no platformed from universities. We need to be very careful about who holds the power over speech.