Political Correctness Has Gone Way Too Far
I have just read a library book in which the entire text was edited for political correctness by some ignorant vandal. The book was Rosario Santos’s The Fat Man from La Paz: Contemporary Fiction from Bolivia. If you’ve read yesterday’s post, you know that I am interested in visiting Bolivia, which is one of two Andean countries I have not seen (the other is Colombia).
The copy I checked out from L.A.’s Central Library is full of ballpoint editings enforcing a rigid code of PC relating to feminism, religion, sexual preference, and aboriginal peoples. The stories ranged from interesting to outstanding, but I was constantly being outraged by the marginal comments.
Below is a table showing some typical examples:
| Page | Original Text | PC Corrections and [Notes] |
| 68 | a prayer of health to the Virgin | a prayer of health to Mary |
| 104 | Since Rosemary had her baby | [Birth Control!] |
| 134 | saints with expressions of satisfaction | “saints” with expressions of satisfaction |
| 141 | they went around poisoning the lives of others | [Sexist] |
| 143 | why her grandmother hated men | why her grandmother hated marriage |
| 235 | a mestizo born of an Indian woman | a mestizo born of a native woman |
| 236 | the spire of the Mother Church | [Patriarchal] |
| 239 | the Indians shifted restlessly | the people shifted restlessly |
| 246 | his worn out little love of his dreams | his worn out love of his dreams |
| 250 | making holes for their women to toss in seeds | making holes for the women to toss in seeds |
| 254 | the Indians maintained their balance | the workers maintained their balance |
I have decided that the only punishment worthy of this vandalism is to locate the individual responsible, strip him or her naked, and tattoo them all around their body with the most politically incorrect terminology possible. Anyone want to join me?
tarnmoor 
a reader with problems, for sure… a need for deep psychoanalysis indicated, possibly…