Prima mi sono trasferito in Canada, Ho usato pensare che gli Stati Uniti. aveva il monopolio sulla correttezza politica. Almeno nel New England dove ho vissuto, everyone wishes you “Happy Holidays,” instead of “Merry Christmas” o “Happy Hanukkah” o “Good Kwanzaa” or whatever.

Ma si scopre che anche more Canadians support the concept of political correctness.

Secondo un recente Angus Reid sondaggio, 50 percent of Canadians surveyed believe in political correctness — defined as “language and/or behavior that seeks to minimize possible offenses to racial, cultural and gender identity groups, among others.”

In contrast, 45 percent of Americans oppose political correctness, mentre 41 percent support it.

Is that funny?

While in both countries, a significant majority of respondents said that it’s important for teachers, politicians, and journalists to behave in a politically correct way, comedians get a lot more leeway. Solo 25% dei canadesi, e 31% degli americani, think that comedians must be politically correct.

Tuttavia, l'indagine ha rilevato “striking differences in the way the two countries feel about the acceptability of jokes dealing with specific topics.”

Even though more Canadians say they believe in being politically correct, Canadians are more willing than Americans to be OK with jokes about physical appearance (54% in Canada, 46% negli Stati Uniti), gara (54% in Canada, 42% negli Stati Uniti), obesity (53% in Canada, 45% in US), and ethnic origin (59% in Canada, 46% negli Stati Uniti).

E almost two-thirds of Canadians (63%) see no problem making jokes about religion, mentre meno della metà degli americani (46%) concorrere.

Nella mia esperienza, Canadians are also a lot more likely to wish you “Merry Christmas” di “Happy Holidays.” Is this society that highly values multiculturalism less concerned about offending various cultures? Che cosa ne pensi? Post a comment below.

And you can get more details about the Angus Reid survey from VisionCritical.com.

Foto di NatalieMaynor (flickr)