is there a right not to be offended?

[marnanel]

In the context of Bojo’s remarks about hijabi women and pillar boxes, someone asked me

Does the Left recognise the right not to be offended?

I think we have to clarify our terms here.

One of the central ideas in socialism is that society contains groups who, across the board, take advantage of other groups. It’s an emergent effect, and not necessarily intentional or even conscious by the individual. So, for example, even though there are certainly many men who don’t look down on women at all, men as a group do better at the expense of women as a group.

One of the many ways in which a group can be kept down is using microaggressions: things which are hardly harmful in themselves, but serve to nudge the scales out of balance. (For instance, think of David Cameron telling Angela Eagle “calm down, dear” in the Commons.)

Now, on an individual level, it’s true that nobody has a right not to be offended. But given the analysis I’ve just described, you can perhaps see why comments which offend an individual can also serve to damage the standing of a group to which the individual belongs. And it’s this damage which is being objected to.