Political correctness has gone mad…

Parent complaining about a tv star for a child broadcast that only have one arm…
Can someone tell me how a **** like clarkson that have on a regular basis xenophobic, racist mysogenic comment still on broadcast then? Are people more chocked about a physical difference than a complete inappropriate behaviour?
I might be just e media hype, but considering how much the French media have to talk about at the moment, for such news to be broadcast on the number one radio in France means it get out of proportion…

That really is political correctness gone mad…That is wrong with some of you people.

or such news to be broadcast on the number one radio in France means it get out of proportion…

That really is political correctness gone mad…That is wrong with some of you people.

Erm isn’t that a problem for the French media?

Some nitwits posted some negative comments on the CBBC website – lots of people disagreed with them. There never really was a story.

PS – I think you have completely misunderstood the meaning of the term ‘political correctness’.

Daily mash summed it up best…

Satan makes room for parents who complain about disabled tv presenter

Kind of agree with andym – pc gone mad would be if there was a one armed TV presenter who couldn’t speak. ie. couldn’t actually do the job they are supposed to be doing, but are employed out of political correctness

booo 🙁

go in the naughty corner to work on mu britishness 🙁

That is wrong with some of you people.

Racist.

Clearly French media is shite.

It’s amazing how often the term political correctness gets used in inappropriate contexts. I even heard a BBC News reporter using it in reference to a story on people being over-zealous about health and safety rules – how is that political correctness FFS!!

The comments section on virtually any story on the Daily Mail website can be pretty much guaranteed to have complaints about political correctness too, however irrelevant.

Drac I really don’t think so, not this one. It’s radio France which is about the most serious radio. I saddly couldn’t get the whole coverage as I had to go to work but I’ll try to catch it up. I wouldn’t mind this story to be broadcast in France if the climate was calm, but with the recession, the problem in the DOM, the strikes, the EU summit there is plenty of news more related to people in france to talk about.
Not that I complain, but I always thought UK was way ahead of France in terms of disable acceptance and integration in the society.

If the best radio station talks about a story then that isn’t really a story then it doesn’t say much at all about them.

Not that I complain, but I always thought UK was way ahead of France in terms of disable acceptance and integration in the society.

There’s always a few though isn’t there no matter when can’t accept some people are different.

Not that I complain, but I always thought UK was way ahead of France in terms of disable acceptance and integration in the society.

As a country the UK is arguably the most accepting in the world, unfortunately as with all countries there are a few idiots about who can’t quite cope with people who don’t look, sound, talk and think just like them.

stoo and drac from what I heard this morning it’s a bit more than a few people, as some petitions have been set up and all… very sad 🙁

stoo and drac from what I heard this morning it’s a bit more than a few people, as some petitions have been set up and all… very sad

In a country of 61 million people what constitutes “a bit more than a few people”?

Clarkson for PM

stoo and drac from what I heard this morning it’s a bit more than a few people, as some petitions have been set up and all… very sad

A petition starts with one person.

Britain generally only hears about France in the news when they are striking, doesn’t mean all French people agree with or partake in the strikes.

A news story does not represent a country’s views is what I’m saying.

There are always some idiots in any society. A Mexican friend of mine who has travelled the world working agrees with you Juan, that the UK is the most accepting and diverse developed country in the world.

Clarkson for PM

Thankfully Americans don’t get to vote for our PM

Juan

Just as a little aside on ‘political correctness’.

In France the word ‘handicappé’ is still routinely used. In Britain we stopped using it a long time ago and used the term ‘disabled’ (which is really just a posher way of saying the same thing). Then people said that we should say ‘disabled people’ rather than ‘disabled’ (because the latter focuses on the fact that they are disabled rather than the fact that they are people). Some radical groups would like to use the term ‘differently-abled’ or ‘physically-challenged’, but these have never caught on.

These are the sort of debates that people have in mind when they talk about ‘political correctness’.

I must admit I wonder whether the fact that this story seems to have received a lot more attention in France than in Britain might be because in France the idea of having a children’s TV presenter who had part of her arm missing is so strange whereas in the UK, although it’s far from usual, it’s still accepted (apart from by the nitwits).

andy well as I said I couldn’t get the whole coverage 🙁
I’ll try to see if I can get the radio to send me a MP3 of the coverage or get it on france info…

It might be pretty big to have this story cross the sea. I do agree however you’ll probably not see a disabled-people on the TV in France. You hardly see women and lets not talk about coloured people 🙁

Indeed. The point about not calling people disabled kind of relates to the ‘social model of disability’. This says that its not people that are disabled, but society that creates problems for certain people.

ie if there is an office at the top of a big flight of stairs, the problem is not that a person in a wheelchair can’t get up the stairs, but that a lift hasn’t been put in.

This argument has a point to an extent but can be taken to ludicrous extremes – ‘political correctness gone mad’. Bear in mind though that most of the stories about so-called political correctness gone mad in papers like The Mail and The Express, are almost entirely made up.

lets not talk about coloured people

Even that phrase is deemed inappropriate by many people, even when no offense is obviously intended.

It’s a minefield out there. 😉

Grumm – And to add to that, most stories about “Health and Safety gone mad” are actually often down to insurance companies being unwilling to cover certain potential hazards (planters hanging off lamp posts for example). H&S becomes the easy target, the HSE being a government orgainsation after all.

What miffed me the most was when I was told, by a person looking after a group of disabled kids, that I shouldn’t call them disabled, I should call them “non-abled”. I nearly stood and argued but concluded I would be wasting my time.

I’ve never yet known a militant disabled person who complained about everything being unfair, usually they just get on with their life like everyone else and grumble occassionaly about clearly stupid situations. In fact they seem to find more of a problem with people who try too hard to help.

sootyandjim – yep HSE are actually reasonably sensible for the most part.

Non-abled sounds worse than disabled to my mind – like they have no abilities at all.

As a country the UK is arguably the most accepting in the world

I kind of agree with this; so much effort has been made to ‘include’ all sorts of people in the UK, which sometimes is sadly attacked by people banging on about the ‘PC Brigade’.

I think the Beeb have deliberately hyped up this story, and for good reason. Like how reporting on that Dutch racist who wanted to come over here, which sparked off some good debates about ‘freedom of speech’. People’s attitude towards Disability are suddenly in the spotlight, and these attitudes are being questioned and challenged, if they are believed to be ignorant or wrong. I’ve heard loads of great radio discussions on this, and I think it’s actually very encouraging, to hear the vast majority of people saying they have no problem whatsoever with the TV presenter at the centre of it all, being on telly in front of their kids.

I also think she’s been extremely dignified, in not reacting to some of the very ignorant and bigoted opinions that were expressed.

Time we saw people with disabilities as people, and not ‘the disabled’.

lets not talk about coloured people

I think the more acceptable term is ‘people from ethnic minorities’, these days..

After all, we’re all ‘coloured’.

Repack, that’s a terrible thought.

If we wanted a stupid, unthinking, knee-jerk, illiterate, ignorant, publicity seeking, prejudiced, dangerous lunatic as a leader, we would have elected George Bush, like you lot did 😆

Actually, I think you may have something here – Clarkson would make a perfect Republican Candidate.
Tell you what, we’ll swap you Clarkson for Jon Stewart or Tom Waits. You’ll have to pay the postage though……..

lol at rusty spanner…

If everything goes to plan I’ll be back in the kingdom next year.
i might even pay the postage for clarkson if you want 😉

Repack:
Just re-read that and it sounds a bit horrible.
No offence meant, just British humour. Doesn’t always travel well.

@ Rusty

No probs – actually Im a transplant (brit living in San Fran) I come to this forum so I dont lose touch wif me roots!

& hey at least with JC he WOULD make being PC illegal!

Jeremy Clarkson is an arse! 😆
As far as i’m aware the term “disabled” is going to phased out, to be replaced by “differently-abled” so as to be even more correct and inoffensive.

‘Political correctness, or as it used to be know, spastic gaytalk’ – Frankie Boyle 😆

I agree that most Express/Mail frothing is tiresome though. So called PC has done a lot of good.

Clearly French media is shite.

So they’re getting more British too.

most stories about “Health and Safety gone mad” are actually often down to insurance companies being unwilling to cover certain potential hazards

Either that or the measures being taken are actually quite reasonable, and just seem extreme to those people who don’t fully understand the situation.

CAN EVERYONE PLEASE STOP BEING RACIST!!

CAN EVERYONE PLEASE STOP BEING RACIST!!

WTF?

Personally I think health and safety has gone slightly mad. Not the HSE, they doing stirling work. No i’m talking about the mentally challenged officious people who apply to be health and saftey inspectors within an indvidual company. People who’s remit seems to be to increase work for others as a means of adding significance to their miserable little lives, whilst simulatenously failing to actually make the working environment safer.
Yes I have issues 🙂

and we get the annual immigrants mass rioting with cars burnt etc in Paris. You don’t see mass riots in London do you? Thanks to Comrade Brown and his efficient Police State apparatus.
…other news-worthy French stories included the Normandy town wanting to change its name due to it ‘being overlooked by internet searchers’ and….its Mayor’s official/full title sounding like ‘merde’
Gawdon Bennet.