IMPORTANCE OF GENDER-FAIR LANGUAGE

PROBLEM: Anyone can achieve these goals if they work hard and have
some faith.
PROBLEM: No one can come in if they don't know the password.

WHAT ARE SOME GOOD SOLUTIONS?

1) Use Neutral Expressions Rather than Gender-Specific Ones in Phrases

and Occupations

 "police officer" instead of "policeman"

 "chair," "head," or presiding officer" instead of "chairman"
 "executive" instead of "businessman"
 "humanity" or "humankind" instead of "mankind"
 "manufactured," "machine made" instead of "man-made"

These are just a few examples; a little creative thought on your part can
usually solve this problem.
Gender-Fair Language
In American English you should also avoid using old feminine forms of noun
 GENDER-FAIR LANGUAGE (GFL) aims at reducing gender such as "poetess" and "bachelorette": just drop the feminine endings. Be
stereotyping and discrimination. Two principle strategies have been aware, however, that British English still uses many of these (a female British
employed to make languages gender-fair and to treat women and men store manager is actually referred to as a "manageress").
symmetrically: neutralization and feminization.
 Neutralization is achieved, for example, by replacing 2) Use Plural Nouns and Pronouns Instead of Singular, Gender-Specific
male-masculine forms (policeman) with gender-unmarked forms Forms
(police officer).
 Feminization relies on the use of feminine forms to make female  NOT: Every student should read his syllabus at the beginning of
referents visible (i.e., the applicant… he or she instead of the the term.
applicant… he).  TRY: Students should read their syllabi at the beginning of the
 By integrating research on (1) language structures, (2) language policies, term.
and (3) individual language behavior, we provide a critical review of
how GFL contributes to the reduction of gender stereotyping and  NOT: A player should not question his coach's instructions in
discrimination. Our review provides a basis for future research and for crucial moments.
scientifically based policy-making.  TRY: Players should not question their coach's instructions in
 GFL aims to abolish asymmetries in referring to and addressing women crucial moments.
and men.
Just remember that sometimes the meaning of the sentence will not allow you
Using Gender-Fair or Neutral Language to use a plural.

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM HERE? 3) Reword to Avoid Gender Problems Entirely

A generation or so ago, English language usage standards used to tell us to The last example could be reworded to avoid entirely the problematic
use "man," "he," etc., when speaking about any unspecified individual. This possessive pronoun "his": A player should not question the coach's
standard has changed for several reasons: instructions in crucial moments.
 it inaccurately represents individuals who are female or groups who are
partly or wholly female;  NOT: When a person watches too much television, his brain turns to
 it misleadingly focuses on the sex of the individual rather than what mush.
they are doing;  TRY: Watching too much television turns a person's brains to mush.
 it indicates bias (even when you have no intention of doing so).
WHAT ARE SOME LAST DITCH SOLUTIONS?
Thus, in order to make our writing as accurate and fair as possible, it is
necessary to use gender-fair or neutral language in two general areas: in the 1) Use First Person ("I") or Second Person ("You")
use of the terms "man" or "men" in nouns, and in the use of personal
pronouns such as "he." The problem is that the English language is flawed -  ORIGINAL: If a student is having a problem with a professor, he
we don't have a pronoun that means "a person of either sex." obvious solution should discuss the problem with the Department Chair.
-- replacing each "he" with "he or she," or alternating between the two, can be  REVISED: If you are having a problem with a professor, you should
as awkward as it is obvious. In addition, this solution may not be acceptable discuss the problem with the Department Chair. OR
in technical or scientific writing, where a high value is placed on accurate and  REVISED: If I have a problem with a professor, I discuss it with the
Department Chair.
unambiguous information.

The most common attempt to solve this problem is a mistake that almost You can easily see one problem with this solution: it changes the meaning of
everyone makes in spoken language: putting a plural pronoun (they, them, the sentence somewhat, which could be significant in context. Other, less
obvious, problems, are that overuse of the words "you" or "I" in a paper can
their, theirs) after a singular noun or pronoun.
sound accusatory or self-centered, respectively, and the mixed use of first,
PROBLEM: A person should not ignore their friends' personal troubles. second, and third person in a paper can be confusing to a reader.
PROBLEM: It is the duty of every driver to carry their driver's license at all
2) Use Passive Voice
times.

Typically, however, the problem is caused by the use of an indefinite pronoun,  ORIGINAL: If a person drinks at a party, he shouldn't drive a car home.
which refers to a nonspecific person (anybody, anyone, each, either,  REVISED: A car should not be driven home by a person who drinks at
a party.
everybody, everyone neither, nobody, none, no one, somebody, someone).
These sound plural but should be treated as singular.
You can see that this sounds pretty awkward. Reword to avoid this problem exam registration form at the office before midday, please? (spoken)
instead.
We can use they, them, their and theirs to refer to both sexes at the same time,
 BETTER REVISION: If a person drinks at a party, another person who even when a singular noun has been used, although some people consider this
is a designated driver should drive home. unacceptable. However, in present-day English, this usage is becoming more
accepted:
SEXISM IN LANGUAGE
 Every student must show their identity card on entering the examination
What is sexist language? room. (preferred to Every student must show his identity card.)
It is inherently discriminatory language, either written or spoken, that implies  A nurse has to be very open and understanding. They must listen to
an unjustified sexual bias against a group or an individual, usually women, their patients and respond to them. (preferred to She must listen to her
but sometimes men. patients. or He must listen to his patients.)

Linguistic Sexism Suffixes -man, -master -woman and -ess

Many people feel that traditional uses of the suffixes -man, -master, -woman
By typical definition, sexist language is considered to be any language that is and -ess are sexist and outdated, so alternative, neutral forms are often used
supposed to include all people, but, unintentionally (or not) excludes a (m = male; f = female).
gender—this can be either males or females. A look at linguistic sexism is
finding out the relationship between language and gender. A lot of people run
into the difficulty of making the choices between certain words in their
everyday discourses. They wonder which to choose – the chairman has
arrived for the meeting or the chairperson has arrived for the occasion when
referring to a woman. This is the stuff the English language is made of. It is
ridden with linguistic sexism that excludes women and trivializes what
women do. This paper examines elements of sexism in the English language
which abound in the morphology, syntax and semantics of the language.
Some solutions were also proffered.

Gender Bias and Sexism in Language

Language is one of the most powerful means through which sexism and
gender discrimination are perpetrated and reproduced. The content of gender In many cases, we can use the traditional male suffix for both sexes.
stereotypes, according to which women should display communal/warmth
traits and men should display agentic/competence traits, is reflected in the
lexical choices of everyday communication. As a consequence, language
subtly reproduces the societal asymmetries of status and power in favor of
men, which are attached to the corresponding social roles. Moreover, the
hidden yet consensual norm according to which the prototypical human being
is male is embedded in the structure of many languages. Grammatical and
syntactical rules are built in a way that feminine terms usually derive from
the corresponding masculine form. Similarly, masculine nouns and pronouns
are often used with a generic function to refer to both men and women.
However, such linguistic forms have the negative effects of making women
disappear in mental representations. Although the use of gender-fair linguistic
expressions can effectively prevent these negative consequences and promote
gender equality, there are even more implicit forms of gender bias in
language that are difficult to suppress. By choosing terms at different levels Nouns, adjectives and verbs with man
of abstraction, people can affect the attributions of the receiver in a way that Some nouns, adjectives and verbs which include man are considered sexist
is consistent with their stereotypical beliefs. Linguistic abstraction, thus, is a nowadays. We can often use neutral alternatives:
very subtle resource used to represent women in a less favorable way and
thus to enact gender discrimination without meaning to discriminate or even
be aware that this linguistic behavior has discriminatory results. In order to
reduce gender bias, it is necessary to change people’s linguistic habits by
making them aware of the beneficial effects of gender-fair expressions.

Sexist Language

Sexist language is language which excludes one sex or the other, or which
suggests that one sex is superior to the other. For example, traditionally, he,
him and his were used to refer to both sexes, male and female, but nowadays
many people feel that this makes she, her and hers seem less important or  The firm is hoping to take on more workers (or staff). (preferred to …
inferior. It is best to avoid sexist language in order not to offend people. more manpower …)
 Somebody will have to be at the entrance to take the tickets as people
He, she, him, her, his, hers come in. (preferred to Somebody will have to man the entrance …)
In writing, we can use (s)he, he/she, him/her or his/her to refer to both sexes  Synthetic fibres are never as nice to wear as natural ones. (preferred to
at the same time. When speaking formally, we say he or she and his or her: Manmade fibres …)
 The teacher is the person who organises the class. (S)he is the one who AM No. 21-11-25-SC
controls timekeeping and the sequence of events.
 Not: She is the one … or He is the one … AM No. 21-11-25 SC
 A police officer should remember that he/she is a public servant and
should therefore always be polite. It is his/her duty to assist the public.
 University administrator: Could each candidate please leave his or her