"Politically correct", it must be pointed out, was a term invented to cultivate resistance and antipathy towards a simple concept: just being mature and courteous towards people unlike oneself. It's as plain as that. It can just as easily be called "being a mature adult" instead.
On the "appropriation" front, I will say that at least eight times out of ten now, the most vociferous complaint comes from umpteenth-generation-removed people not actually living in or around the culture supposedly being appropriated. Cultures mingle and mix naturally -- as they should -- and popularity of cultural elements outside their culture of origin is usually how those elements survive; I may point, most significantly, to international interest in Celtic culture and the Gaelic languages in the 80s and 90s, and in geisha in the 90s and 00s, which led to domestic strengthening of those aspects of the cultures and, indeed, survival of those elements in that resurgence of interest.
That said, I am always of the opinion that people should not just take things from a culture without learning about those things and that culture -- good and bad elements -- and I encourage trying to neither romanticize the culture, nor to demonize it. Gain a context and acknowledge biases. I am also firm in my position that it's gone far out of hand with people (ironically) taking it upon themselves to judge others as being "worthy" of using elements of a social group, culture, or ethnic group that is only assumed to be not that person's own. This has led to a gatekeeper mentality and has its own masses of problems that are well outside the scope of this conversation. Further, as artists and writers, it is very important that people not feel intimidated when considering stepping outside their own personal social circles and comfort zones.
Speaking from a personal perspective: if we had to wait for only gay people to write every story involving gay people, we'd never have made any progress. I don't even like most of the gay representation in popular media to this day, but sometimes there's a really great example of it that pleases me. I can recognize some queerbaiting and fetishizing, but that doesn't mean we have to throw it all out. Baby and bathwater. Representation helps with acceptance, given time. Plus, I'm not the only gay person out there, and I have no right to speak for all gay people. I can personally present my argument and objections to the material, and people should be able to draw their own conclusions.
If you're trying to be provocative, you have to be provoking something, whether it's questioning, examining something, or reassessing matters. n.b. that being an intolerant bigot does not mean you're just "exercising free speech" which, I may add, does not mean you can just say anything and avoid any repercussions. If you're going directly to be offensive, you're probably going to look questionable and puerile to at least a significant part of your potential audience. When you say something, you don't say it in a vacuum. You're likely going to have response from a statement, and you'd be directly provoking it from a question. Especially if you go for epithets, which will always generate massive controversy and discussion that you may find like a can of worms, and better avoided...especially if it undermines what you're trying to do with your story or work in general.
So be prepared for a conversation, if you make an artistic statement. If you're making a statement that you dislike, say, empire line dresses, be prepared for -- even if it never happens -- someone to speak up and try to engage you who has the opposite viewpoint. Because of this, art and writing are not a very good place, nor do they lend themselves easily or particularly well, for unilateral bigotry and intolerance or, as they have been called even in this conversation, "coming from a place of hate". Even if you're out to criticize an element of a cultural or sociocultural group, it really needs to have more context to it than simply "I hate this" presented by itself.
In short (too late!) there's a difference between setting out to offend, and incidentally offending. Appropriation, even when it is legitimate, is not necessarily related to an offensive element or attitude towards a group of people. Much depends on intent, on being informed, and on the message being conveyed by the work, which will naturally vary from person to person.
You can't account for every person's perspective and what they get out of your work. But you certainly can try to minimize offense by being aware. You can't always anticipate it though, so as long as your intention isn't a malicious one, people really should try the aforementioned "being a mature adult" and understanding that. If we can both come to the table with mutual respect -- or some modicum thereof -- and at least hear each other out, that should go a long way to making sure offense is minimized.
You most often will provoke conversation in the best case scenario, by making a topic to be discussed. Inviting respectful discourse is something that, in my opinion, should always be a sure bet.
