In today’s world, it seems like everyone is mad about everything all the time. Every single thing from a Superbowl ad, to an Oscars host, or a subtle comment from talk show host, is a cause for controversy these days, but are these worthy of the attention the public gives them?

Political correctness stems from people trying to prevent cultural appropriation in all types of aspects: race, gender, religion, and more. For example, if a celebrity called a person of color the N-word, they would get attacked by their fans. This, for instance, would not be a case of political correctness, due to the fact that it is morally wrong to call someone the N-word because of its racist connotations since the days of slavery. But if someone calls you dude, a phrase that has never had any sexist references in the past, and you get mad at them for “assuming your gender”, that’s where the problem of political correctness begins.

Politically correct (also known as PC) people constantly accuse others of saying or doing what is deemed as incorrect. Stating a simple fact can be deemed as racist or sexist. For example, if you refer to an adult woman as a “girl”, PC people can accuse you of being undermining to women because you are using the word “girl” as a way of belittling them. Why? Where do we draw the line when it comes to political correctness? When is too much considered too much?

Most people seem to believe that liberals are the root for political correctness, but the difference between liberals and PC people are fairly large, even though there could be an overlap between the two. One one hand, liberals thrive protecting people’s human rights and respect. On the other hand, PC people protect feelings: anything that could remotely hurt any sensitive individual is immediately judged as racist, homophobic, and/or sexist. PC people usually feel like they are more well-versed on current events so they believe they should spread their ideas to the people around them, and by forcing people to think like them, they end up becoming what they want to avoid. While that ideal comes from a good intention, it can easily go to an extreme on several different occasions, like it often does on social media.

When it comes to political correctness, it is important to identify when something is actually offensive, like a racial slur or sexist insult, and yet cannot be considered offensive by politically correct people, like a misunderstood phrase or an action taken into exaggeration. Bill Maher, a political talk show host, explained this in a simple way: Martin Luther King Jr. set an example to judge people not by the color of their skin but by their character. Now, however, you have to judge people by the color of their skin in order to acknowledge your white privilege. Sure, acknowledging your positions of privilege is important, but you shouldn’t be thinking about how to talk to minority groups in order to show that you acknowledge your privilege, beyond being respectful to whomever you’re talking to. If you want to talk to a person of color, go ahead; you should not be forced to talk to them in order to “fit in” with politically correct expectations. Treating everyone, not just minorities with respect, should suffice.

Being respectful of everyone’s circumstances, culture, and point of view is what ultimately makes you a good person, complaining when someone says or does something barely close to being insulting doesn’t; that is where the line should be drawn.