There’s a few things that that I know are considered
“politically correct” yet leave me with a feeling of unease. I may be on the totally wrong track, so I
hope my readers will help me reason it out.
1.
It’s prom
season everywhere. The recent trend is
for groups who may be usually left out of this rite of passage get their
revenge by having their own proms.
Separate but equal? There are
black proms, white proms, and gay proms.
Today I read about a prom for the autistic students/siblings in a
particular school. The non-autistic
students put it together and made it into an all-out project, taking the
opportunity to organize pre-prom teaching sessions for learning all the social
graces. By all accounts, a good time was
had by all. So what’s the problem? Does anyone else see a “separate but equal”
trend for diversity?
Imagine you are the autistic teen; your
wish has been answered. You are dressed
up, there is music, dancing, and surrounded by the cool kids and the pretty
girls. And they are dancing with
you! Does this change anything? Will those kids go on a date with you? Invite you to their next party? Hangout in the summer? I’m guessing not. I’m further guessing that high school will
always be divided into groups and one glorious night is not going to change
that.
2.
I somehow just became aware that parents and
adults in general have taken ownership of the phrase “Good job!” to praise
children for virtually everything they do.
At face value, this is good, right?
Positive parenting, fostering self-esteem, yada yada yada. I’ve heard it used for putting up toys,
eating one’s meal, pooping in the potty, walking—well, virtually
everything. I was probably made a
neurotic mess by my parents, but I don’t remember getting praise for bodily
functions or necessary chores. I never
doubted that they thought I was special, but I sometimes wonder about the ego
inflation currently being pumped continually into the small children of
today. Will it be a shock when they
enter the real world and learn that not everyone thinks everything they do is a
“good job?”
3.
Last, and probably least: I am all about gender equality and it's high
time anyone who wants to get married be allowed to do it legally. Also, people should be allowed to decide what
sex they want to be. No argument from
me. I’m just asking for a little
patience with old folks like me. It
still takes me a few minutes to get that a man can have a husband and a woman
can have a wife. Also, that you now have
to address someone who has a penis as “she”.
Just one more sentence as a lead-in (e.g., Judy is married to a woman or
Jane used to be a man called Jack). Is
that too much to ask?
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