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P.C.-CULTURE

Woke ‘experts’ warn the word ‘obesity’ is RACIST and suggest ‘people with larger bodies’ instead University of Illinois Chicago wants to ban the word ‘obesity’ because focusing on body size is ‘rooted in racism’By Gina Martinez

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10829285/Woke-experts-warn-word-obesity-RACIST-suggest-people-larger-bodies-instead.html

Multiple woke academics now claim the word ‘obesity’ is racist and should be dropped in favor of ‘people with larger bodies.’  

The University of Illinois Chicago’s school of public health published a health brief titled: ‘Addressing weight stigma and fatphobia in public health’ that explored ‘the association between racism, weight, and health.’

According to Amanda Montgomery RD, public health’s focus on preventing obesity has brought in an increase of negative attitudes towards ‘people with larger bodies’ – her preferred alternative term – and is currently one of the only socially acceptable forms of discrimination. 

The brief claims that public health approaches related to obesity can be harmful because of the focus on one outcome – weight loss- and because it tends to ignore the root cause of the issue. 

Academics say many of the causes are rooted in discrimination borne of settlers driving Native Americans off their land, then forcing black and Hispanic workers to farm that land for low pay.  

Amanda Montgomery RD wrote that public health’s focus on preventing obesity has brought an increase of negative attitudes at people with larger bodies
At the lecture University of California, Irvine associate professor Sabrina Strings spoke about the racist roots of fatphobia, which she claims goes all the way back to slavery

‘The public health field has not taken a critical look at this research, focusing on the narrative that weight is controllable and a personal responsibility,’ the brief says. ‘If the goal is to find the most ethical and effective strategies to achieve optimal public health, there needs to be an alternative to ‘obesity’ and weight-focused approaches and a shift in understanding of weight stigma as a social justice issue.’

America is the fattest country in the western world with an estimated 40 percent of people — or 138 million — being obese. It is followed by New Zealand (30 percent), Canada (29.4 percent) and Australia (29 percent).

President Joe Biden will reveal his plans for tackling obesity this September, and has already set targets of improving physical activity and reducing diet-related diseases — like type 2 diabetes — nationally.

Chiefly Illiterate in San Francisco Schools The district pulls ‘chief’ from its CFO’s title as a progressive gesture to Native Americans

https://www.wsj.com/articles/chiefly-illiterate-in-san-francisco-schools-chief-native-american-11653599414?mod=opinion_lead_pos2

The San Francisco school district is a slow learner, apparently. In February voters ousted three school-board members in landslide elections. One complaint was that the board was more interested in progressive gestures, such as scrubbing Abraham Lincoln’s name off school buildings, than in reopening classrooms amid the pandemic.

Now the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the school district is planning to phase out the word “chief” in its job titles, “given that Native American members of our community have expressed concerns.” Currently the district has executives with the customary roles of chief financial officer, chief of staff, and so on.

Here’s what is particularly amusing in this attempt at progressive sensitivity: While the English language has lots of words that can be traced to the native peoples of the Americas, including “chipmunk,” “barbecue” and “hurricane,” they don’t include “chief.” That word comes from Old French, and originally Latin, and the Oxford English Dictionary has citations back to 1297.

“Farewell great Chiefe,” says a character in Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra.” That’s dated to the early 1600s. Somehow we doubt he was thinking about the Sioux. A biblical translation from William Tyndale in 1526 speaks of “the power of Belzebub, the chefe of the devyls.” The earliest examples are hard to parse unless you’re fluent in Beowulfese, but here’s one we grasp from 1483, a decade before Columbus sailed to the west: “She was made abbesse and chyef of al the monasterye.”

Schoolyard Cancel-Culture Bullies Come for Daniel Boone Chicago plans to change the name of my elementary school. By Joseph Epstein

https://www.wsj.com/articles/schoolyard-bullies-come-for-daniel-boone-political-correctness-chicago-virtue-history-canceling-11652713941?mod=opinion_lead_pos10

A plan is afoot to change the name of a Chicago grammar school I attended. Daniel Boone, under the reign of self-righteous political correctness, is now a problem. The old pioneer apparently kept seven slaves and took over lands belonging to (as we now say) indigenous people. (His daughter Jemima was also kidnapped by a Cherokee-Shawnee raiding party, but let that pass.) For these sins the Chicago Public Schools Office of Equity has decided Boone is a “historically egregious figure” and can’t be allowed to have a school named after him.

The question of a new name was taken up in March at what the Washington Examiner’s Abigail Adcox described as an “in-person forum for the renaming process that was exclusively for parents, guardians, staff, and community members who are ‘Black, Indigenous, [or] People of Color.’ ” The school’s neighborhood is now a mixture of East Asians and Orthodox Jews. Most of the Jewish children attend religious day schools.

I attended Boone School from ages 10 to 14. I find myself not shocked but distressed by the name change. Boone was the scene of many of the happiest days of my boyhood. I was a quarterback, a shortstop, a point guard. I danced the rhumba with Marie Goldman at my first boy-and-girl parties. I spent my summers playing ball on the school’s gravel playground. I made friends I retain more than 70 years later.

What is in it for those intent on taking down statues and changing names of institutions? A feeling of high virtue, through redressing injustices of the past by canceling its heroes. They have at their disposal a powerful weapon: the right to call anyone who disagrees a racist.

Already stretched thin, border agents must now used politically correct pronouns under new edict New requirement comes as border agents are bracing for historic surges of illegal migrants John Solomon

https://justthenews.com/government/security/already-stretched-thin-border-agents-must-now-used-politically-correct-pronouns

Battered by COVID-19, waves of illegal immigrants and fears of even larger surges ahead, Customs and Border Protection officers have a new burden: they must now be sure to use proper pronouns for LGBTQI+ migrants.

The new requirement was included Thursday at the bottom of a much larger announcement by the Homeland Security Department concerning changes instituted on International Trans Day of Visibility.

“Facilitating effective communication at U.S. ports of entry and beyond: CBP has provided a job aid and memorandum to all staff that will serve as a guide for facilitating effective communication with the diverse public CBP serves, including LGBTQI+ individuals,” the agency said. I

“The guidance includes using gender-neutral language and an individual’s self-identified pronouns and name,” it added.

CPB‘s requirements came as a Biden Administration made sweeping actions across numerous agencies to create new accommodations for transgender and non-binary people.

The State Department on Thursday announced that US Citizens will be able to choose “X” as their gender rather than “Male” or “Female” on their passports

British intelligence agencies surrender to wokeness By Eric Utter

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/03/british_intelligence_agencies_surrender_to_wokeness.html

Something called a “Mission Critical” toolkit has been disseminated amongst British intelligence agencies MI5, MI6, and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), according to the Daily Mail. The Daily Mail published the leaked documents showing that the intelligence agencies are promoting inclusive language, attempting to do away with verbiage that could “reinforce dominant cultural patterns,” and urging Britain’s spies to declare their preferred pronouns and add them to their email signatures.

This new guidance was allegedly approved by Sir Stephen Lovegrove, the U.K.’s national security adviser. But wait, isn’t the title “Sir” a vestige of bygone days? Is it not binary in nature, as well as being classist? Does it not itself “reinforce dominant cultural patterns?”

The toolkit, shared internally in early December, purportedly states: “Sharing your pronouns, if you are comfortable doing this, helps to create an environment in which this is normal.” It notes, “In national security, look out for words and phrases, such as ‘strong’ or ‘grip,’ that reinforce the dominant cultural patterns.” (Really? Well, not to worry then; the dominant cultural patterns won’t be dominant for long.)

Documents in the toolkit also allegedly state, “Avoid jargon, hierarchy or gender biases,” and strongly caution against the use of the term “manpower.” Sir Lovegrove would disapprove.

“Use gender-neutral language to reflect people’s diversity and reduce stereotypes and assumptions, for example about job roles and functions which need not be gender-defined.”

The toolkit tells staff that they should “understand your unconscious bias,” “be aware of intersectionality,” “acknowledge your privilege,” and “consider refusing to speak on all-male panels.” In that kind of climate, I think I would refuse to speak at all.

Expelled from a Progressive Think Tank—for the Crime of Denouncing Antifa Violence Craig McCann

https://quillette.com/2022/02/22/expelled-from-a-progressive-think-tank-for-the-crime-of-denouncing-antifa-violence/

On February 2nd, I wrote an opinion piece entitled “Beware the Anti-Fascists, for they have become what they oppose,” on behalf of the UK-based Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right (CARR)—a research centre for which I served, until recently, as a policy and practitioner fellow. That article began as follows:

I am increasingly concerned at the rate at which the so-called “CVE field” [countering violent extremism] is being infiltrated by activists describing themselves as “Anti-Fascists” who advocate for committing criminal offences in furtherance of their opposition to the radical right. This has exploded since the riot that took place at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, for which a large number of criminal investigations are still ongoing. As someone who has spent more than a decade delivering and studying state responses to counter the radical right, as well as other forms of terrorism, I feel compelled to challenge the implied narrative that the only way to oppose the radical right is by emulating their tactics.

One might think that this wouldn’t be a controversial opinion. Yet it was met with an avalanche of abuse and hit pieces emanating (and apparently coordinated by) Antifa-linked social-media accounts in the United States. Despite the fact that I had written numerous articles for CARR over the last four years (17, according to the website), it was suddenly (and ludicrously) claimed that my former career as a police officer meant that my supposed “bias against antifascists” had always been lying in plain sight.

CARR, as per its website, is dedicated to “the study and countering of radical right extremism and intersecting phenomena (e.g., populism, gender, antisemitism, and Islamophobia) that aims to support a variety of mainstream groups, from government agencies to grass-roots charities, through podcasts, commentary, research reports, presentations, media interviews and commissioned work.” As a former senior counter-terrorism officer who’s served in the London Metropolitan Police Service’s Counter Terrorism Command (SO15), as well as the author of a book on state responses to right-wing extremism (based on my PhD research), I was invited to become affiliated with the group in mid-2018.

The Bitty Bug Transgender Circus A miniature, knitted prosthetic penis arrives to save your female toddler from being misgendered. Thom Nickels

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/02/bitty-bug-transgender-circus-and-womens-sports-thom-nickels/

It seems that the transgender revolution sweeping the globe has finally caught the eye of merchandisers.

Consider the Bitty Bug Soft Packer, a custom made prosthetic for your (gender ambiguous) toddler. Vaguely reminiscent of a knitted glove, the Bitty Bug is actually a miniature knitted penis that parents can pin to their female child’s underwear to give a life-like impression of the male gender. The crocheted device is manufactured by Stitchbug Studio for just $6 a pair and guarantees that your biological female child will never be mistaken as female. Bitty Bug penises come in a variety of colors like pink, hummus, brown, black, white, blue, and purple. There are also a variety of sizes: 1 inch, 1.5 inches, 2 inches, and 2.5 inches.

 Daily Mail.com reported,

The controversial £4.20 item is available in multiple colors and was even advertised on the company’s website using a photo of a teddy bear with a bulge protruding from his children’s underpants. Similar adult ‘packers’ have become popular in the trans community to help reduce gender dysphoria and anxiety, however this range were noticeably smaller than usual.

At first glance, the Bitty Bug Packer looks like unhinged satire, but it as real as UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas, aka Will Thomas, a tall transgender woman with big hands and feet who regularly crushes biological female competitors while making many of them feel uncomfortable in the shower.

Evolution, Hyper-Novelty and Cultural Noise Michael Giffin

https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2022/01/evolution-hyper-novelty-and-cultural-noise-2/

EXCERPTS

“Science occurs along a spectrum, sound on one end, unsound on the other. We live in an age where facts are scientific if they serve the narrative of whatever ideology is currently hegemonic and unscientific if they do not. One of the delusions of our age is the belief that sex and gender are functionally independent, from each other and from evolutionary biology too. Scientists now reinforce this delusion, because it bankrolls their research, controls government and education, and drives public policy. This is the backstory of the AMA recommendation against recording sex on birth certificates.

In their book, Bret and Heather discuss a common misunderstanding of our age, that because men and women work side by side, and are equal under the law, they are the same. To ignore their differences, to demand they be the same, is sexism of another kind. We were sexual beings long before we were human, and our desire to reproduce is hard-wired. It is a fool’s game to pretend, as our culture now pretends, “that sex equals gender, or that gender has no relationship to sex, or that either sex or gender is not wholly evolutionary”. Sexual differences can be valued without embracing the naturalistic fallacy.

Men and women have three possible reproductive strategies to choose from: first, “partner up and invest long term, reproductively, socially, and emotionally”; second, “force reproduction on an unwilling partner”; third, “force nobody, but also invest little beyond short-term sexual activity”. The first is best for men, women, children and society. The second is morally reprehensible and, historically, available to men rather than women. The third is now widely embraced by women in an age of sexual liberation, birth control and abortion on demand.

Yet sexual liberation has consequences—emotional, societal and evolutionary—the cost of which must be borne, ultimately, by some individuals or groups. Cheap sex has not empowered women in their negotiations with men. The non-judgmental, value-free welfare state was established to protect women, but its benefits are mixed; many women are disempowered, and what results is a class of self-perpetuating social disadvantage. Without monogamy, Bret and Heather believe sexuality is reduced to “females burdened with the entire chore of reproduction, and undiscerning males always on the make”.

Sex Offenders in Colorado Will No Longer Be Called ‘Sex Offenders’ Rick Moran

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2021/11/20/sex-offenders-in-colorado-will-no-longer-be-called-sex-offenders-n1534915

The Colorado Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) has determined that referring to people who commit sexual crimes as “sex offenders” isn’t “person-first” language.

Instead, rapists, flashers, peeping toms, and other perverts will be called an “Adult who commits sexual offenses.” According to Denver Post writer Alex Burness, “Those who supported this change feel the ‘sex offender’ label is not nuanced enough and can impede rehabilitation.”

Leaving aside the documented fact that most sex offenders will re-offend and rehabilitation is a waste of time, what could these people be thinking?

“This language in the committees I’ve been on seems to be the most supported of these options. … It highlights the active reason why someone is in treatment, and it doesn’t assume the behavior is over,” SOMB member Carl Blake said.

“Victims advocates, therapists, law enforcement that I’ve spoken with, along with all of the DAs I represent, are not in favor of replacing this term,” SOMB member Jessica Dotter said.

The changes are not final. There will be a 20-day comment period for the public to weigh in before the board meets again in December.

Apparently, sex offenders are offended about being referred to as an offender.

CBS4:

Derek Logue says he shouldn’t have to carry the label for life, “Referring to me by a label for something I did half my life ago is inappropriate and downright offensive.”

He argued “client” would be a better term.

Public Defender Kathy Heffron agreed, “It takes into consideration the uniqueness of individuals who are receiving treatment.”

How about changing it to “inhuman monster”? Would that do?

Leftists continue their assaults on language to achieve political goals By Andrea Widburg

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/11/leftists_continue_their_assaults_on_language_to_achieve_political_goals.html

People have been noticing lately that leftists are working hard to change the language to achieve their goals. Leftists are fully aware of the fact that, as George Orwell argued, when you change the available vocabulary, you also change people’s ability to think about things. If you erase from the English language any words tied to liberty (e.g., freedom, individuality, liberal, etc.), people will eventually lose entirely the whole concept of freedom. It’s with that thought in mind that some in the LGBTQ+ crowd are working to rebrand pedophilia. The latest euphemism is “Minor-Attracted Person” but it’s the same old sick idea.

Certain words decline with value over the years. The word beldam, or old hag, comes from the French belle dame, meaning beautiful lady. Once, young people respectfully called elderly women, especially grandmothers, belle dame, and then the word degraded.

Another word that degraded was spinster. Once, it meant a woman who would spin for a living. Eventually, it came to mean a repressed, desiccated, permanently unwed woman. Now, of course, the word is gone entirely because there’s no stigma attached to remaining unmarried.

And then there’s the word “pedophile.” It’s a neologism that psychiatrists created in the 1950s, from the Greek for “loving children,” something the ancient Greeks proudly did. Isn’t that sweet? Except, of course, there’s nothing sweet about it. Pedophiles are people who are sexually attracted to children and, in the worst cases, they act on that attraction. Since its inception, that word has had purely negative connotations.

Well, it turns out that, in today’s progressive world, pedophiles don’t feel that they should be stigmatized in that way. Allyn Walker, an assistant professor at Old Dominion University, in Virginia, is one such person, and Walker is willing to go on the record to make that point.