Political Correctness vs. Free Speech

The literary character Shane 'Blackie' O'Neill, from Co. Kerry, is a popular one, created by novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford. But his name has meant that the proposed title of her latest book Blackie and Emma has now had to be changed.

The prequel to the highly successful A Woman of Substance was due for imminent release. But at the last minute her publishers feared that the title Blackie and Emma might offend political correctness and asked her to come up with an alternative.

A quote used in the promotional material rather demonstrates how key the nickname is:

I am that, to be sure. Shane O'Neill's the name, but the whole world calls me Blackie.

The author spoke about the last minute change in the title saying that the book will now be called Shane O'Neill and Emma Harte .

Alex Jones' InfoWars is already widely banned from social media on political grounds for disputing politically correct dictates. However disputing the need for social distancing during the covid crisis was maybe a step too far leading to Infowar's Android app being ejected from Goggle's Play Store.

The app was apparently removed because of a video posted by radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones that, according to Wired, disputed the need for social distancing, shelter in place, and quarantine efforts meant to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

A Google spokesperson said:

When we find apps that violate Play policy by distributing misleading or harmful information, we remove them from the store. Infowars was not immediately available for comment.

Last week, Alex Jones was ordered by New York Attorney General Letitia James to stop selling Infowars products that were marketed as a treatment or cure for the coronavirus.

An outrage mob has accused he BritBox of racism after it put up an episode of Doctor Who where Chinese people are played by western actors.

The pay streaming service run by the BBC and ITV was accused of failing to put a trigger warning on the 1977 six-part series titled The Talons of Weng-Chiang where white actors are shown wearing make-up and putting on accents as they play Asian characters.

Britbox later added a content warning to the episode since the kerfuffle, and said its compliance team are still working to review all programmes. A warning to the series now says that it contains some offensive language of the time and upsetting scenes.

A spokeswoman for the British East Asians in Theatre & on Screen told The Times the episode is really hard to watch because yellowface is so unacceptable now.

The episode stars Tom Baker playing the Doctor as he battles a Chinese stage magician villain called Li H'sen Chang, played by white British actor John Bennett.

Woody Allen's memoir, Apropos of Nothing, was acquired last week by the publisher Hachette in the US.

The move was quickly condemned by the author's daughter Dylan Farrow, who has alleged that Allen sexually abused her as a child, allegations that Allen has denied. These allegations have twice been investigated by the authorities but have not led to arrest, charge or prosecution.

Allen's son Ronan Farrow, whose book Catch and Kill --also published by Hachette -- details his investigations into institutional sexual abuse in the media and Hollywood, also blasted the decision and announced he would no longer work with Hachette.

The Hachette censorship was initiated by Hachette staff in the US who staged a walkout at its New York offices over the memoir. The publisher then pulled the book, claming that the decision was a difficult one.

Woody Allen's memoir will still be published in France despite its US publisher dropping it, with his French publisher saying that the film director is not Roman Polanski and that the American situation is not ours.

Offsite Comment: This is the behaviour of censors, not publishers

9th March 2020. See article from theguardian.com by Jo Glanville of English Pen

I do not want to read books that are good for me or that are written by people whose views I always agree with or admire. I am always afraid when a mob, however small and well read, exercises power without any accountability, process or redress. That frightens me much more than the prospect of Woody Allen's autobiography hitting the bookstores.

...Read the full article from theguardian.com

The UNWomen Oxford UK Society had invited former Home Secretary Amber Rudd to speak on the totally uncontroversial topic of women's equality. She was due to be interviewed on her former roles as minister for women and equalities and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Sex Equality.

But less than an hour before the event, the UNWomen society had a change of heart and decded to no-platform their invited speaker.

It seems that the issue that offended the students was that the Windrush scandal happened under Rudd's watch at the Home Office and negated all her other achievements.

Amber Rudd described the decision to cancel the event as badly judged and rude'

The students have now tried to justify their censorship in article from theguardian.com

Did you know that if you are a woman, the dictionary will refer to you as a bitch or a maid? And that a man is a person with the qualities associated with males, such as bravery, spirit, or toughness or a man of honour and the man of the house?

These are, according to the dictionary, the synonyms for woman alongside a wealth of derogatory and equally sexist examples 203 I told you to be home when I get home, little woman or Don't be daft, woman!

Synonyms and examples such as these, when offered without context, reinforce negative stereotypes about women and centre men. That's dangerous because language has real world implications, it shapes perceptions and influences the way women are treated.

Dictionaries are essential reference tools, and the Oxford Dictionary of English is an essential learning tool, used in libraries and schools around the world. It is also the source licensed by Apple and Google, namely the most read online dictionary in the world.

Its inclusion of derogatory terms used to describe women should aim at exposing everyday sexism, not perpetuating it.

Bitch is not a synonym for woman. It is dehumanising to call a woman a bitch. It is but one sad, albeit extremely damaging, example of everyday sexism. And that should be explained clearly in the dictionary entry used to describe us.

We are calling on Oxford University Press, which publishes the Oxford Dictionary of English, as well as the online Oxford Dictionaries (www.lexico.com to change their entry for the word woman. It might not end everyday sexism or the patriarchy but it's a good start.

Maria Beatrice Giovanardi and the campaign team
Mandu Reid, leader of Women's Equality Party
Deborah Cameron, professor of language and communication, Oxford University
Nicki Norman, acting CEO of Women's Aid Federation of England
Fiona Dwyer, CEO at Solace Women's Aid
Estelle du Boulay, Director of Rights of Women
Laura Coryton, tampon tax petition starter, Period Poverty Task Force Member at the Government Equalities Office, alumni of University of Oxford (MSt in Women's Studies)
Gabby Edlin, CEO and Founder of Bloody Good Period
The Representation Project
Zoe Dronfield, trustee at Paladin National Stalking Advocacy Service
Gwen Rhys, founder and CEO of Women in the City
David Adger, professor of linguistics, Queen Mary University of London
Dr Christine Cheng, author and lecturer in war studies at King's College
Dr Christina Scharff, author and reader in gender, media and culture at King's College
Judith Large, senior research fellow

Two posters for Missguided, a clothing company:

• a. The first poster, seen on the London Underground on 14 November 2019, featured a model wearing a pink wrap mini-dress, which showed her legs and cleavage.

• b. The second poster, seen on 24 November on a train station platform, featured the same model leaning against a side table wearing an unbuttoned jacket with nothing underneath, sheer tights and high heels.

Issue The complainants, who believed the images were overly sexualised and objectified women, challenged whether:

1. ad (a); and

2. ad (b) were offensive.

3. One of the complainants also challenged whether ad (a) was appropriate for display where it could be seen by children.

ASA Decision

1. Not upheld

The ASA considered that the pose adopted by the model in ad (a) was no more than mildly sexual. The wrap style of the dress and her pose, with one arm slightly behind her, meant that it fell open just by her breast, which we considered was likely to be in keeping with how the dress would ordinarily be worn, but featured no explicit nudity. We also considered the focus of the ad was on the model in general and on the featured dress, rather than on a specific part of her body. While we acknowledged that some people might find the ad distasteful and the clothing revealing, we considered that the ad was unlikely to be seen as overtly sexual or as objectifying either the model in the ad or women in general and we therefore concluded the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.

2. Upheld The model in ad (b) was wearing a blazer with nothing underneath, which exposed the side of her breast, and which was coupled with sheer tights, sheer gloves and underwear. We considered she would be seen as being in a state of undress and that the focus was on her chest area and lower abdomen rather than the clothing being advertised. We also noted that her head was tilted back, with her mouth slightly open, and her leg was bent and raised, which we considered was likely to be seen as a sexually suggestive pose. We considered that the sexually suggestive styling and pose would be seen as presenting women as sexual objects. Because the ad objectified women, we concluded that ad (b) was likely to cause serious offence.

3. Not upheld Ad (a) was seen on the London Underground and we accepted that children were likely to have seen the ad. However, for the reasons stated in point 1 above, we considered the image was not overtly sexual, and therefore concluded that it had not been placed inappropriately.

Ad (b) must not appear again in its current form. We told Missguided Ltd not to use advertising that objectified women and which was likely to cause serious offence.

The animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars has made it onto the internet TV service Disney Plus, but it's missing a bit on the episode A Distant Echo .

A once teased, but ultimately axed scene featured some WW2-era pinup-style graphics. It showed a leggy Senator Padme Amidala in high boots, a severe updo, a mischievously cryptic look on her face, and a gun in hand.

In the deleted scene, Anakin asks Hunter, Hey! What's with the nose art? Hunter responds, That's our girl. The Naboo Senator. We check her out on the holoscans. Wrecker responds, Yea! She can negotiate with me anytime!

Disney has not given any reason for this latest cutting room floor decision. But some fans are frustrated at Disneyand those within, who want to sterilize everything for the modern era.