...impose our current standards of "nice" on, to borrow a phrase that seems particularly apt, "prior art"? To me, that is quite different from using PC-isms in personal speech from personal choice.
Thanks, sjm--you said directly what I meant but couldn't seem to make clear with many times more words.
This very morning in church was an example; I had never realized this, but it is in our hymnal now that we are supposed to sing, "Good Christian Friends Rejoice". I ask you! As eta also indicated, this kind of thing comes down to personal choice; I am not so gung-ho on this point as to insist to my children that it should be the original way--but right now, you can bet I am singing "men" rejoice. Not all things are good just because they're old, but I happen to be the kind of person who doesn't like something I've enjoyed all my life messed with!
And, we all have our personal "lines in the sand"--some of us will always stop earlier or go further in our willingness to change whatever. And the decision-makers, whomever they happen to be, aren't going to please all of the people all of the time. Here's one change that I happen to agree was necessary: the line in My Old Kentucky Home that now reads: "'Tis summer, the people are gay;"
(This is Kentucky's state song, for those of you who didn't know.) The 1986 Kentucky state legislature officially put in the word people to replace the word darkies. Now, Stephen Foster wrote that song in 1853, and I imagine he meant the word merely descriptively. And I had sung the song that way all my life, but had not felt particularly comfortable with that word once I began to grow up.
There are some things I could say about why I disapprove of changing hymns and approve of changing our state song, but I won't go into that now. I was just using this as an example about personal choices. For all I know, my children and grand-children are/will find male-only words as offensive as I find that original word in My Old Kentucky Home now; but at present, I prefer to sing the hymns the way they were originally written--keeping in the back of my mind what my true beliefs are.
P.S.--eta, I understood (I think!) why you're doing what you said you are; and I didn't think you were implying that others are not nice, Sweetie. You're allowed to do what you want to; as are we all. Now, my ire would be up in a big hurry were you or anyone try to tell me I HAD to change this or that! I believe that may have been WO'N's point. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.)
