Munga and The Human Touch

[2nd Reef]

On the weekend I was wasting a bit of time looking through old Surfer magazines and came across a quick interview with Munga Barry from 1991 and was suprised to see one of his answers. In reply to 'Penalty Box' he wrote Saddam Hussein, Politicians, Drug Pushers and ***.

It was mildly shocking to see the word used without any irony; just sitting there uncensored with no chance of being misinterpreted or misconstrued. In the wake of Sarge-gate and Matt Branson's interview in Stab it was a reminder of how things have changed in the surf world.

[ric_vidal]

Hmmm, wonder if he wants to change his listing in ‘Words’?

Maybe he just meant ‘*** and peas pie’?

[nigelr]

To be "politically correct" is certainly more of a concern nowadays.
Perhaps he meant paedophiles.
Cheers.

[cs]

Then he goes and lists a vegie burger being his alltime feast...
Thats the pot calling the kettle black

[Nick Carroll]

I'm over the whole Sarge gate thing.

That wasn't about him being gay. Plenty of gay people in surfing over the years.

[oldman]

Radio Birdman - Radio appears.

Great album, great band.

[2nd Reef]

To be "politically correct" is certainly more of a concern nowadays.

Y'know Nige, I've been thinking about the whole PC thing since reading this. Like, do people think the same things as they did in the past but are no longer game to say them in public?

Or has there been a genuine change in attitude?

My take on it is that to judge the efficacy of political correctness by assessing one generation has always been a short-term view. To understand how political correctness can change attitudes it need to be seen how the attitude of one generation affects the values of the next generation. If older blokes think it's OK to vilify minorities then the younger blokes will think so too. If, however, there is a break in the cycle, even if forced by anti-vilification legisalation then the younger fellas may not continue the cycle.

They then don't have to worry about being PC as they don't have the inherited homophobia / xenophobia. And if homosexuals have nothing to fear by coming out then that class that would otherwise have been homophobic may have greater awareness that they are normal people and not to be feared, ridiculed or hated.

Bit of a simplistic way to look at it as there are many other factors at involved but interesting to think about nonetheless....

[nigelr]

2nd reef-I believe there has been a slight change in attitudes between my generation and that of my teenage son. I'd put a lot of it down to education.
I would emphasize slight, however.
Certainly there is a legal framework in place these days that makes it imperative that one considers ones remarks made in public very carefully.
At the end of the day, the attraction to some of homophobia, xenophobia et al remain.
There is always the potential for people to go there for relief from their own shortcomings, or to manipulate the fears of others etc etc , if you get my drift.
Interesting and accurate point made by NC, IMHO.

[kreepykrawly]

I'm over the whole Sarge gate thing.
.

Yeah me too...

Was about to mention some of you’re early Darlinghurst journo days but decided not too due to my new found political correctness and you’re absence from these forums to defend yourself.

[oldman]

Or has there been a genuine change in attitude?

There has definitely been some change in attitude generationally, and not a small amount.

My parents generation was so different to my children's as to almost constitute a different species.

But I am talking about a period in the history of human beings that has probably encompassed more radical change than any other.

Yet human beings are fundamentally unchanged since the dawn of time. Attitudes and PC are just the froth on the top of the human condition.

[TMC]

Nige and Reefer

I would consider myself as being a member of the next generation, as in the one following you, and I think that the idea of equal rights for gays etc has gone beyond political correctness.

Whereas for your generation, political correctness surrounding homosexuality was a conscious effort, for my generation, or at least those i am aquainted with, its more just accepted practice. There is no outward need to express ones acceptance of gay people because, well its just expected.

I think political correctness is bullsh*t personally. In the last 5 years, it been blown completely out of proportion, to the point where it's almost as if there is predjudice (sic?) against the majority. But I am talking about political correctness surrounding race, religion, rather than that surrounding homosexuality.[/quote]

[kreepykrawly]

With my new found political correctness I will cease to refer to homosexuals as gays as it implies that they are happy, when, apparently with all this homophobia…..they are not.
From now on I will refer to them as "sexually challenged" people.

TMC
Reminds me of the backlash we had to feminism. When feminism first started running rampant through mainstream society it started to alienate all those who dared to appose it and in a way they (feminists) recreated their own autocratically inspired “feminist” dictums that left males disadvantaged.

Like out of control feminism..we need to stop all this popular gay huggin cr-p. It seems that those who dare to appose or question gay molestation incidents are either labeled “gay” themselves or homophobic. (its kinda strange thinking(by the way some of you think) that if I hate pedophiles that I may in fact be a child molester……… but I digress).

I hate anyone that sexually molests anyone against their will. If I criticize a gay bloke for molesting a guy…. im not "homophobic". If I criticize a hetro rapist for raping a female…im not rapeaphobic/hetrophobic.

I’m just pissed off.

[TMC]

KK i totally agree

What frustrates me is that if I dislike someone who is hetero, then im just one person who pissed off with someone else. But if I turn around and get the sh1ts with someone who happens to prefer a throw down with another guy, then immediately i'm labelled as homophobic, even though my annoyance with said person has nothing to do with their sexuality.

Simmilarly I dislike people who overtly flaunt their sexuality, whether it be gay or straight. Carson Kressley or however you spell (the queer eye guy who looks like a duck) it is possibly the most annying person on tv. If I went around and constantly made crude jokes about sleeping with women and the size of their t1ts, i would be labelled as sexist, but he can make the same jokes and and comments about another guy and his drainpipe, and its all sweet.

Its just the double standards that annoy me.

[Clif]

When making an argument feel free to jump from feminism to homosexuality to pedophilia to rape and all the way back again with no mention of context or anything remotely positive. In contrast:

Many might be offended by being called politically correct. But I like it. To me, to be politically correct means I’m making the effort to recognise and understand and listen to other social groups besides a dominant mainstream, a mainstream that tries to make everyone else fit into their own social norms and expectations. It does not mean I agree with the alternative voice but I at least try to understand and listen.

But it is an uncomfortable position to have to be self-reflexive. It is why many people then rail against any alternative voice/approach to an issue as not being "common sense" or "politically correct". This is because it makes them feel uncomfortable and uncertain, and challenges their opinions or authority. People's blood boils without them really being able to explain clearly why because deep-seated social norms and prejudices have been put on notice. They then resort to sweeping claims and polemics. and hate speech.

Cheshire Calhoun: political correctness is “any change in language, policy, social behavior and cultural representation that is aimed at avoiding or correcting a narrow world view and the long-standing subordination of some social groups.”

Sounds pretty good to me.

[Clif]

By the way TMC: you might want to consider how straight people flaunt their sexuality every day too. Think about advertising, people screwing in the street outside parties, etc etc etc.

Now that is a double standard.

[Nick Carroll]

When feminism first started running rampant through mainstream society it started to alienate all those who dared to appose it and in a way they (feminists) recreated their own autocratically inspired “feminist” dictums that left males disadvantaged.

Yeah...men are soooooo disadvantaged.

I don't know how we even manage to get out of bed in the mornings.

[philw]

Like out of control feminism..we need to stop all this popular gay huggin cr-p. It seems that those who dare to appose or question gay molestation incidents are either labeled “gay” themselves or homophobic. (its kinda strange thinking(by the way some of you think) that if I hate pedophiles that I may in fact be a child molester……… but I digress).


THIS IS HILARIOUS. GAY MOLESTATION? WHERE? WTF???? HYSTERICAL FREAK.

[kreepykrawly]

Look i shouldn’t say this but I will
A few years ago I had rash on my nuts. I spun out because I used to root around a lot.
So I went to whistler sexual health clinic in Manly. The first question they asked me was “ have you ever had homosexual sex ?” of course I said NO.
I asked them what relevance that question had to my nut problem. They told me that the homosexual community was more promiscuous than heterosexuals and the chance of getting a sexually transmitted disease was higher within that group. Cliff can testify to the statistics.

FYI ..It turns out I just had nut rash from surfing in me boardies.

P.S this(me) disadvantaged hysterical freak is going for another surf again. How good was it this morning !? even better than yesterdays surf I had.