If you’re like me and you spend the majority of your time perusing the internet, you’ve most likely stumbled across the term political correctness. Now think back to the last time you were in a heated forum debate or even a YouTube comment showdown. You know what, just think back to the last conversation that you had; you probably said something you shouldn’t have said because it wasn’t politically correct. Chances are, that wasn’t intentional; however, political correctness has ingrained itself so deeply into our society that it’s sometimes hard to distinguish whether PC culture has gone too far.

First off, what exactly is political correctness? The Oxford English Dictionaries defines it  as: “The avoidance of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against.” What stood out to me the most was the reference to people who are “socially disadvantaged or discriminated against”. What does this jargon even mean? It’s quite subjective and lines can become blurry, but personally, I think of groups of people who are hindered in life due to race, ethnicity, or gender.

UNIS is home to such a diverse population that it would be a waste not to ask for some personal opinions. As such, I asked people within the UNIS community how they were able to remain politically correct in today’s ever-complex entanglement of the social fabric. I asked one of our friendly editors-in-chief for their opinion, because sifting and filtering articles for potentially offensive material are, after all, a job requirement. He/She (Who is it?) told me that he/she would judge materials against their “most sensitive friends” to see if their responses were positive or negative. Another student said that his/her method was to filter anything “that does not give in to hate crimes”.

Truthfully, I think that being politically correct is something that is increasingly important in our world, because how would insulting a particular group be beneficial to other people, or to us? But there’s also a part of me that believes that there’s a difference in being politically correct and finding fault and offence in every nook and cranny. Live a little, laugh a little, but don’t let the subject of political correctness be too far from your mind.