U.S. News: John Leo on more PC folderol (8/21/00)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outlook 8/21/00
By John Leo
You can't make this up
More cultural craziness that's stranger than fiction
Another harasser brought to justice. In Canton, Ohio, a 6-year-old boy
who jumped from his bathtub and ran to a window to stop a school bus
was suspended by his school for sexual harassment. The boy's mother
said she put him in the tub so he wouldn't see the bus go by; he had a
doctor's appointment and couldn't attend school that morning. But when
his sister told him she saw the bus coming, the tyke ran to the window
and shouted for the driver to wait. Since he was nude at the time, the
school ruled that he had harassed youngsters on the bus. The school
forced him to sign a paper admitting that he knew the nature of the
charges against him.
Busted! Seth Shaw, a counselor at a public elementary school in Fort
Worth, Texas, said, "Hello, good-looking," to a new female employee.
Big mistake. She turned out to be the no-nonsense instructor of the
school's sexual harassment workshops. Shaw's breezy impoliteness was
treated as a serious offense. Shaw was suspended without pay for 20
days.
Home of the Fightin' School Supplies. A tiger was the emblem of Thomas
Lake Elementary School in Minnesota. Officials there decided it was too
mean and violent-looking, so they asked the students to pick a new
symbol from a list that included a sweet-looking tiger and some school
supplies. The students voted for the school supplies: a pen, a pencil,
and a ruler.
Now sit, Ingvar, sit. Young women in Sweden, Germany, and Australia
have a new cause: They want men to sit down while urinating. This
demand comes partly from concerns about hygiene -- avoiding the splash
factor -- but, as Jasper Gerard reports in the English Spectator, "more
crucially because a man standing up to urinate is deemed to be
triumphing in his masculinity, and by extension, degrading women." One
argument is that if women can't do it, then men shouldn't either.
Another is that standing upright while relieving oneself is "a nasty
macho gesture," suggestive of male violence. A feminist group at
Stockholm University is campaigning to ban all urinals from campus, and
one Swedish elementary school has already removed them. In Australia,
an Internet survey shows that 17 percent of those polled think men
ought to sit, while 70 percent believe they should be allowed to stand.
Some Swedish women are pressuring their men to take a stand, so to
speak. Yola, a 25-year-old Swedish trainee psychiatrist, says she dumps
boyfriends who insist on standing. "What else can I do?" said her new
boyfriend, Ingvar, who sits.
Can't they play without violence? The British Labor government
authorized a pamphlet urging teachers to ban the children's game of
musical chairs on grounds that it promotes aggression and allows the
biggest and strongest children to win. Sue Finch, the booklet's author,
said: "Musical statues is better because everybody wins." Good idea.
Let's get rid of all the damaging kids games. Goodbye to pin the tail
on
the donkey and monkey in the middle (violence toward animals),
jacks(sexist), and hopscotch (obvious mockery of limb-deficient
disability).
Butchering the truth. The federation of meat-shop owners in France is
offended that reporters refer to murderers as "butchers," since most
butchers are "gentle, peace-loving" workers. An architect in New York
omplained about a news report identifying "the architect" of a shooting
spree. "There it is," wrote columnist Clyde Haberman of the New York
Times, "the ugly face of anti-architect bigotry."
New, nicer language! Mutilative elective surgery (he declawing of
cats), pet guardians (pet owners), peace room (war room), guest service
employees (bellhops), people of advanced chronology (the elderly),
nondiscretionary fragrance (body odor), states of concern (the State
Department's new term for rogue states), and Green Bay Pickers (a new
name for football's Green Bay Packers suggested by the animal-rights
group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which doesn't think
anyone should eat meat, let alone pack it).
What about hissing and herpes? Because it begins with the
masculine-sounding syllable "his," the word "history" has been banned
at Stockport College in Manchester, England. Also banned are the
phrases
"ladies and gentlemen" (offensive connotations of class) and "slaving
over a hot stove" (which "minimizes the horror and oppression of the
slave trade"). No word, though, about that offensive first syllable of
"Manchester."
A government-run employment bureau in Walsall, England, banned the
words "hard-working," "reliable," and "smart" on grounds that they
discriminate against the disabled. The phrase "commitment and a desire
to succeed are vital" was banned as well, apparently for insensitivity
toward lazy people. Striving to be reliable and smart, the Labor
government rescinded the ban.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger.
http://im.yahoo.com/
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
