"Academics denounce....

academics demand.... students must....students must not...."
I tutor some university students but I have little to do with their teachers - the lecturers and professors responsible for imparting their own knowledge and entrusted with the responsibility of helping students discover other knowledge.
What I do know is starting to concern me. Not all academic staff agree with what I am about to say of course but there would appear to be enough of them for there to  be cause for concern.
A student came to me recently for help with an essay. He's a good student from another culture. He's working hard, holding down a part time job to help his parents who are struggling to send enough funds for him to study here. When he finishes he will go back to his country and make a useful contribution to society. 
But, he's under pressure here - and sometimes for the wrong reasons.  The essay had been handed in and marked. He has received a pass for it. He wanted to know what was wrong with it.
How could he improve?
It was a reasonable question. I read the essay. It was well constructed although his English is more formal than that of the local students. The ideas seemed well thought through. They were backed with examples from the reading he had been told to do and some extra that he had found "because (he) was interested". He had put forward a convincing argument for his point of view.
Now, I might have been missing something but I don't think I was. I made a couple of very discreet inquiries of someone I know. What was this particular lecturer like? Did she have any particular views about the topic in question?
No. It wasn't that. The person I made inquiries of hesitated and then said, "Cat, it's probably the language he's using. She's hot on that. Students who use that sort of language are going to get marked down however good their ideas."
Marked down for using sexist language? I reread the essay. I thought about the student. He comes from a culture where women have a different role but he shows impressive courtesy towards women. More than one person has mentioned how polite he is and how much respect he shows women.But yes, someone with strong views, might choose to see it as "sexist" even though I doubt such a thing entered the student's mind.
So a lecturer can mark down a student not for the work they have done or the ideas that they have used but because they have a "politically correct" view about language? 
Of course the way language is used influences ideas but this was not really about the language being used.  There was no lack of respect in that essay. The real lack of respect was shown by someone for whom an idea about language is apparently more important than anything else.