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 I definitely agree with cantaloupe, but I have to admit I am one of those awkwardly PC people. I have thought a lot about why I’m so afraid of offending people, and I guess it is that I simply don’t want to make others uncomfortable. I acknowledge that progress is best made during conflict. When people are able to be critical and even confrontational, people are made uncomfortable. I think this discomfort comes from a deeper sort of fear of being wrong. A feeling that “damn it. I’m going to stick to my guns because this is what I thought and it’s shameful to be wrong”.  Which may have something to do with early education using the word “wrong” for both bad behavior and incorrect responses on simple exercises. I feel a certain shame in being “wrong” is ingrained in most people and as scholarly thinkers we have to overcome this conditioning.  As outdated as some of Sherry Ortner’s opinions were, I think we can learn something from her willingness to rethink her own, published opinions. If she can do this why can’t we accept confrontation and the challenging of ideas as just that- challenging ideas, not people? As I make this argument I consider changing “we” to “I” because I don’t want to offend anyone by including them in this group wrongfully… I think a possible solution would be calling each other out in class, or in the forum when we think we are being overly PC. Not as a personal criticism, but rather as an attempt to elevate the discussion in the course.