Words form the thread on which we string our experiences, as Aldous Huxley wisely observed, but they do more than that. Words form the necklace of beads, baubles and pearls that we display to the world. They form the millstones round our necks, and sometimes even the ropes with which we hang ourselves. I think it is reprehensible to use language that stigmatizes, demonizes and degrades whole sections of society. I agree that language informs attitudes and perceptions, and so influences behavior, but that is not all. Language offers a window into the hearts of our fellow human beings. I, for one, am reluctant to see that window veiled.
I can also live with the implications for my own choice of words. I’m fully aware that if I lovingly quote Nye Bevan saying, “Tories are lower than vermin”, then I will offend many Conservatives and probably their relatives too. Or if I propose a solution to the problem of over-breeding among our lazy, feckless, parasitic aristocratic classes, involving a twin-pronged strategy of 1. Killing and 2. Eating, then I fully expect to be dismissed and stereotyped as a bitter, irrational, not to mention unoriginal class warrior. Like I say, I can live with that.
Language evolves, and as it does, I fully support efforts to steer it away from gender bias, and strip away from everyday discourse terms that stereotype, diminish or dehumanize sections of society. That requires ongoing debate about what is objectionable in which circumstances, and more importantly, why. That debate happens in workplaces, in pubs, in schools, on Internet forums and wherever else people argue.
I’d be delighted if we could all feel confident in challenging attitudes that demean others and divide us as a society. But that is for us to decide. Yes, all of us. It simply does not help to have the likes of the Fabian Society or the Equality and Human Rights Commission laying down the latest list of forbidden words, with all the self-appointed arrogance of a Guide to Modern Etiquette. That totally misses the point.
It is not words that sometimes need challenging, but the attitudes behind them. True, words shape attitudes, but attitudes shape words to a far greater extent. Ideological proponents of political correctness make a huge error in thinking that offensive words themselves, those little strings of sounds or squiggly letters, are the problem.
