The following articles discuss attitudes towards politically correct language in Australian society.
ABC News - Australians say 'political correctness has gone too far' - but it's complicated (published November 2019)
Useful quotes from the article:
'A clear majority of Australians — 67 per cent — agreed that "freedom of speech is often used to justify discrimination against minority groups". But exactly the same proportion also agreed that "accusations of discrimination against minority groups are often used to try to silence legitimate debate."'
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Canberra Times - We all must wake up to lazy, politically charged language (published May 2021)
Useful quotes from the article:
'Modern politics in Australia is currently infected with imported terms which are thrown around much too easily. The list includes "political correctness", "cancel culture", "identity politics", "woke", "culture wars" and "weaponising". They are not used in a neutral fashion, but to denigrate the views and opinions of other people... The use of these terms is lazy shorthand, but it also often serves the political purpose of shutting down conversation and trying to undermine alternative points of view.'
'Political correctness (PC) is a related but older term, defined as an approach chosen to avoid offence to members of particular groups, on the basis of their race, gender and/or sexuality. Critics condemn so-called political correctness as an unreasonable limit on their freedom of speech, preventing them using certain language in public.'
'The reality is that the use of inclusive language and the avoidance of hate speech and derogatory terms is both sensible and essential for inclusion and equality in modern society. Offence is real, not imaginary, and those sensitive to the legitimate feelings of others should keep their language within bounds.'
'Political correctness has now been replaced by the term "woke". If you have caught up with the new term (there is a generational lag) you will know that it is now used not a compliment but as a putdown, just like PC. Woke, which is of African-American origin, is defined as an awareness of issues that concern social and racial justice, in particular. Critics use it to criticise someone perceived to have an over-awareness of such issues... Such an alleged over-awareness may feed into alleged "cancelling", in which individuals, such as speakers and writers, are refused a platform - in more traditional language, censored or blackballed. They have invitations to speak or even contracts to publish withdrawn. Supposed examples are highlighted and described as part of "cancel culture". This too, like PC, is described as a threat to free speech.'
'The politics of language is part of cultural conflict within any society. Whoever wins the language war is on their way to winning the larger war about the dominance of some individuals and groups over others and the distribution of economic benefits within the society. This makes the politics of language extremely important.'
'Such cultural conflict is an inevitable part of any society, and Australia is no exception. But we should fight it in the open, using language which we all understand, not imported terms which disguise what is going on.'
'When criticisms and allegations are made in language which is plain-speaking, then the particular matter in dispute, such as refugees, racism, gender, freedom of speech, poverty or vulnerability, can be debated on its merits.'
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Sydney Morning Herald - Language used to describe culture risks being 'too sanitised' (published May 2021)
Useful quotes from the article:
'University of Sydney researcher, Associate Professor Dimitria Groutsis, said the research has found that more clearly identifying and describing the cultural background of people in workplaces “without walking on eggshells” was important in tackling barriers to inclusion. She said the language used to describe race, colour and the cultural diversity of a workplace had become “too sanitised” which failed to capture its complexity.'
'“More recently, we have seen the term ‘culturally diverse people’ used, as well as race-based terms imported from the United States such as ‘people of colour’ (POC) and ‘Black, Indigenous and people of colour’ (BIPOC),” the report says.
“Many people prefer to count cultural diversity using a simple broad reporting category such as culturally diverse, CALD, BIPOC, BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic), visible minority or ethnic minority.'
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