By: Michael Brown
There is a massive difference between cultural capitulation and cultural sensitivity. We should resist the former and practice the latter.
What do I mean by cultural capitulation? I mean bowing down to the latest cultural fad, of kowtowing to the most current manifestation of what is PC, of becoming slaves to whatever the societal elites decide is acceptable.
A current example would be the cultural mandate that requires us to give our preferred gender pronouns or to deny biological realities when talking with a trans-identified person. We rightly say no to that mandate for many reasons. (For a listing of relevant articles, go here.)
This, of course, is quite different than cultural sensitivity, by which I mean recognizing what could legitimately offend someone in another culture or be easily misunderstood. This is something we often learn the hard way, especially when traveling to other countries or hosting people from other cultures. There are cultural taboos of which we know nothing until we cross a forbidden line.
The difficult question is to be able to determine when something is a matter of unacceptable cultural capitulation and when it’s a matter of legitimate cultural sensitivity.
All this can be illustrated in a recent interview on PBS’ Firing Line with the famed actor Richard Dreyfus.
He was asked by Margaret Hoover for his views on the new Oscar rules in a which a film would not be eligible for best picture unless it met certain requirements for inclusion and representation.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/richard-dreyfuss-and-the-difference-between-cultural-capitulation-and-cultural-sensitivity/