Hypothesis: Most of the reaction against "PC Culture" is some combination of (a) racism/sexism/etc, (b) reaction to self-righteousness (c) reaction to extremes and (d) reaction to poor branding. I find (d) the most interesting. 1/
"Safe spaces," for example, is a HORRIBLE branding tool. Everyone has a place where they want to be able to be themselves. It's why so many married men take pride and have a strong sense of ownership in their "man caves." 2/
Safe spaces an idea as old as the first "no girls allowed" sign on a treehouse that you saw as a kid. But the term conjures up images of coddling, which, especially when interacted with (a), is going to produce a reaction. Add in (c), and it just blows up. 3/
There's one other thing, which is an idea that @kdrum set forth a few years ago: PC is often a means of guiding discussion, rather than outright bans. The rub: If you go to college, you learn that there's very little you can't say, you just have to use the right language. 4/
I noticed very early on that while my Italian aunts and uncles would say things like "don't go down there, there are too many blacks," my quite liberal Yale friends would call a neighborhood "sketchy," which often had the exact same meaning, yet cleared the bar. 5/
"PC" often becomes an expression of upper-class manners. If you go through the right channels, and learn the system, it really doesn't cabin you in. If you don't, it really can feel like "you're not allowed to say anything anymore."
