Sometimes I use "insensitive" terms like "prostitute" instead of "sex worker" or "illegal alien" instead of "undocumented immigrant."

It's not because of any insensitivity on my part. Actually I'm one of the most sensitive people on the planet, God damn it!

Rather it's because I'm skeptical of the idea that you can change people's attitudes by making them change the words they use.

More likely, the old bad attitudes will, in time, get attached to the new words. Then people will try to invent newer words, and so on.