National has appointed Wayne Mapp its spokesman for "Political Correctness Eradication". Like I See Red, I wondered for a minute if National was taking the piss out of itself, or whether it had been captured by the sort of fringe loonies you see nailing themselves to Big Ben or Buckingham Palace as some bizairre form of protest against their ex-wives. And then I remembered that Don Brash is still in charge, and Murray McCully is still feeding him kool-aid... sadly, this is the shape of our "modern" opposition party - a party which openly bemoans the fact that the country is run by a "feminist cabal" and whose supporters abuse female politicians as "no kids lesbos". A spokesman for "Political Correctness Eradication" fits right in...
So, stifling the sniggers and taking the role seriously, what exactly will Wayne Mapp be trying to eradicate? Judging from Don Brash's comments this afternoon, the idea that public servants should have a basic knowledge of our constitution will be first in the gun. As for the broader question, I've addressed it before. Looking at the policies the right denounce as "politically correct" - things like treating people equally regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation; making sure that everyone can enjoy the basic equality and opportunities that people like Wayne Mapp take for granted; and working to ensure that everyone can participate fully in our society, and that everyone's voice can be heard, rather than just catering to or listening to dead white males - it is clear that the term stands for the expansion of equality and opportunity and the erosion of entrenched privilege. And it is no surprise at all that the National Party would want to eradicate that.
7 comments:
I think Scoop got the best line on this one (no shadow minister for silly walks).
My take is here (thanks for the link to my blog by the way - I've long wanted that Pat Robertson quote on a T-shirt).
While there is something a little ridiculous about the whole thing, I think it's dangerous as well. It's all a big con to try and hide the fact that our society organised in the interests of wealthy white men.
Posted by Maia : 10/27/2005 02:21:00 AM
“It's all a big con to try and hide the fact that our society organised in the interests of wealthy white men”
What timezone are you stuck in?! Truly the only thing more pathetic than some of the Right’s golden days fantasies are the persecution complexes of today’s women’s rights ‘activists’. Having missed the revolution, they’re still trying to pretend it’s issue de jour.
For some reason the fact that our society is organised such that white females live significantly the longest doesn’t cue a perception that perhaps they’re not so utterly disadvantaged and downtrodden after all.. but let’s ignore that fact and quote a few maori and pacific island statistics for which we’ll blame….. ooh, I dunno, let’s say… white males?
Sooner or later white women are gonna have to start shouldering an equal blame for the white man’s burden. Ooh, no I forgot, that’s white *mans* burden, we get to carry that ourselves.
Our society is organised in the interests of *power*. Money = power. Quit blaming the male population for it.. current power structures serve wealthy females in much the same way as males, and disadvantage poor males in very similar ways to poor females.
Posted by Anonymous : 10/27/2005 08:28:00 AM
"Minister for PC eradication"
Translation
"Minister for preserving prejudice"
What a creepy little piece of doublespeak National is engaging in.
Posted by Terence : 10/27/2005 10:22:00 AM
The whole name is so Cutural Revolution that one has to look twice at the date to see if yesterday was 1st of April. Mapp is, however, deadly serious about this. He was talking on National radio, a couple of weeks ago, with that other upholder of "Blokes Being in Charge" Stephen Franks. They are the voices of disgruntled, mean spirited people in this country, we should not ignore them.
Posted by Anonymous : 10/27/2005 11:15:00 AM
Balach: Well, we've got rid of one of them. Hopefully we can get rid of the other at the next election.
Posted by Idiot/Savant : 10/27/2005 12:33:00 PM
it's a sign of the times.
if the Government can appoint a Minister for Cocktail Parties, then anything goes.
Posted by Anonymous : 10/27/2005 12:48:00 PM
Terence - having personally experienced an abusive relationship with an out-of-control woman in which myself and her son were frequently verbally abused and physically attacked with items including a frying pan and a knife, I see red when anyone trots out the familiar violence = male equation.
It does no service to combating violence to treat it as a gender issue or to speak of it as if it were. Anyone who truly abhors violence should have no problem with talking about violence in all it's manifestations, not the gender of the perpetrator.
As to other sources of power, I agree.
But as to people slagging off men in stereotypical ways that they would scream blue murder if women were (are) so stereotyped, it's time men called it for the bollox that it is.
Posted by Anonymous : 10/27/2005 01:59:00 PM
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