Let's have a common sense party please!

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.

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".

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 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.

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?

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.

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?

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Sara give an example and then we can discuss it.

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

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.

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.

This is one of the reasons why politicians get such a shock whenever there is a referendum or election. They think they know how the public feel but they don't because they don't allow us to SAY how we feel. It is only at the ballot box that we can show our true concerns.

I think it would be helpful to separate out what goes on in the Twittersphere and other social media outlets and what the OP claimed

* We can't have a thought of our own, without being accused of something. Who are these people telling us what we must think or act. Everyone is getting cheesed of with it, getting like big brother*

In everyday life we all have a responsibility to be aware of social norms and mores , and how they change: that language plays a role in how these are expressed and understood and that language moves on and words change and develop their meaning.

The OP is hyperbolic nonsense - what has she been stopped from thinking or doing?

I think you'll find there are plenty of complaints about certain misogynist words in rap songs.

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And MOnica there’s much hyperbole in your post

There’s a difference between a very elderly person using the word ‘coloured’ and the use of ‘black b**h which black women in public life have thrown at them. As for the term ‘virtue signalling* FFS.

Well I’m thinking more about real life.

I agree with Callistemon, I have very elderly friend, a kinder person you couldn’t meet, but she sometimes says things that makes me cringe! I tell her she can’t say that anymore, but she doesn’t see why not, she’s always said it.

Not making excuses, just pointing out that it’s sometimes hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

Good sensible post Monica, and whoever called you a racist is an idiot.
I know what the OP means, especially on forums such as this
Where there is always somebody who will be delighted to pounce on a posters words hoping to show how enlightened they are themselves.Yes, that phrase again, virtue signalling.

Another one who’d like some concrete examples.

Maybe the OP is referring to the alistair Stewart resignation.

Sparkling do you mean in RL or on GN?

I can understand what you mean if you're referring to GN.

I dislike the fact that ordinary every day words have been appropriated and are used as an alternative word for what always had a proper, dictionary-defined word or description.

I cannot blame much older people who use words which at one time were accepted, not offensive then became offensive, now are back in a revised form of the original. It could be difficult to keep up.

I can’t think of anything that I want to say but can’t, either.

I do groan when I hear the phrase ‘political correctness gone mad’, though. It is such a cliche, and is often used when people can’t be bothered to use a less hurtful term, or to think about why something might be offensive.

The idea that mysterious spies are waiting to catch people out is faintly ridiculous, really. It’s like the ‘’elf ‘n’ safety’ bods who are also apparently trying to stop our fun by insisting on minimum standards in the workplace or in public buildings- they are supposed to have ‘gone mad’ too.

I’d rather be safe and healthy, and try not to be offensive than to get upset about getting caught out’.