Originally Posted by ForceoftheTruth";p=&quot

When taken to an extreme (and yes, I have sometimes been guilty of taking it to an extreme), that is true. However, political correctness as it has most often been practiced consists of equalizing social treatment of various groups, often in how our language refers to them. It resembles the golden rule. Political correctness works on the principle that you shouldn't do something if you would resent the equivalent being done to you. I don't agree with her on some issues, but I thought Gloria Steinem illustrated this point brilliantly when she wrote this:

Take language for instance. Many women feel invisible or aberrant when they are subsumed under a masculine term that is supposed to be universal; yet they are often made to feel trivial and nit-picking if they object. But look at it this way: Would a man feel included in “womankind?” Would he refer to himself as a “chairwoman”, “Congresswoman” or “Mr. Mary Smith”? If a male student earned a “Spinster of Arts” degree, and a “Mistress of Science”, or had to apply for a “Sistership” would he feel equal in academia? If men had grown up seeing God portrayed only as Mother and She, would they feel equal godliness within themselves?