GAD101 Week 8 Part II

• Use gender-neutral pronouns

  EXAMPLE: “A manager is responsible for his employees.”

  ALTERNATIVES:

  • Plural: “Managers are responsible for their employees.”
  • Drop it: “A manager is responsible for employees.”
  • Drop and replace with an article: “A manager is responsible for (his) the employees.”
• Use gender-neutral pronouns

  EXAMPLE: “A manager is responsible for his employees.”

  ALTERNATIVES:

  • Repeat the noun: “A manager is a responsible officer. A manager is accountable for employees’ actions.”
  • Use a neutral word: “A manager is responsible for one’s employees.”
• Use gender-neutral pronouns

  EXAMPLE: “A manager is responsible for his employees.”

  ALTERNATIVES:

  • Use second-person pronouns: “If you are a manager, you are responsible for your employees.”
  • Recast: “Employees are the responsibility of managers.”
• Terms ending in “man” but refer to functions performed by either sex

  THE PROBLEM:

  • Some professions and occupations have become gendered, often excluding, or at least discouraging the other sex from pursuing the profession.
• Terms ending in “man” but refer to functions performed by either sex

  THE PROBLEM:

  • Paints the picture of the ideal person for the profession or occupation as a man (most often); as a result, women have difficulty entering the profession or advancing their career.
• Eliminate stereotyping: Avoid terms in titles that refer to sex

  • When writing titles or terms referring to occupations, avoid using words that suggest the job is not normally or properly performed by one sex or the other.
• Eliminate stereotyping: Avoid terms in titles that refer to sex

  EXAMPLE:

  • Policeman -> Police officer
  • Fireman -> Firefighter
  • Congressman -> Representative, Legislator
  • Chairman -> Chairperson
  • Councilman -> Councilor
  • Spokesman -> Spokesperson
• Language use that refers to men by default

  • Generic words are used to refer exclusively to men
• Language use that refers to men by default

  THE PROBLEM:

  • It results in inaccurate depiction of the situation.
  • The generic term does not leave room to acknowledge existence of women.
• Language use that refers to men by default

  • “Evacuees moved west taking their wives and children with them.”
  • Corrected - “Evacuees moved west taking their families with them.”
• Language use that refers to men by default

  • “The town fiesta revelers dressed in feathered costumes and accented their faces with dyes. Women too painted their faces.”
  • Corrected - “The town fiesta revelers dressed in feathered costumes and accented their faces with dyes.”
• Language use that refers to men by default

  • “People don’t give up power. They’ll give up anything else first, money, home, wife, but not power.”
  • Corrected - “People don’t give up power. They’ll give up anything else first, money, home, spouse, but not power.”
• Feminine suffixes (-ess, -ette, -trix, -enne)

  THE PROBLEM:

  • Unnecessary reference is made to the person’s sex
  • Usage suggests triviality, unimportance, or inferiority of women occupying such a position
• Feminine suffixes (-ess, -ette, -trix, -enne)

  • actress - actor
  • aviatrix - aviator
  • comedienne - comedian
  • heroine - hero
  • usherette - usher
• Use of sex-linked modifiers

  THE PROBLEM:

  • Sounds gratuitous, is patronizing and suggests that the norm for some occupations is for a particular sex.
  • Implies that they are not real doctors, lawyers, etc.
• Use of sex-linked modifiers

  THE PROBLEM:

  • When you need to point out the female aspect of the person occupying the position, use “female” or “woman” instead of lady.
• Use of sex-linked modifiers

  • lady doctor, doctora - doctor
  • lady lawyer - lawyer
  • male secretary - secretary
  • heroic women - heroes
  • male nurse - nurse
• Language that disparages and marginalizes women (or persons of another gender)

  PROBLEM:

  • Some commonly used terms inherently represent women as having less worth than men
• Language that disparages and marginalizes women (or persons of another gender)

  PROBLEM:

  • Some words and phrases have, over time and usage, become associated with negative connotations
• Language that disparages and marginalizes women (or persons of another gender)

  • salesgirls - saleswomen
  • bachelor girl, spinster, old maid - unmarried woman
  • minority women - ethnic women
  • house husbands, housewives - homemakers
  • girl Friday - administrative assistant
  • starlet - aspiring actor
  • young girls - teenage women
• Lack of parallelism

  PROBLEM:

  • Language that puts one sex at an unequal footing with the other and thus perpetuates gender inequality
• Lack of parallelism

  • man and wife - husband and wife
  • men and ladies - men and women; ladies and gentlemen
  • President Bush and Mrs. Arroyo - President Bush and President Arroyo
  • Martina and Connors - Navratilova and Connors, Martina and Jimmy
  • men and girls - men and women; boys and girls
• Address men and women uniformly

  • In formal correspondence, don’t use “Dear Messrs.,” “Dear Sirs,” or any similar format when addressing a body of several individuals.
  • Instead, use gender-neutral opening statements:
  • EXAMPLE: “Dear board members,” or “Dear councilors”
• Address men and women uniformly

  • Use the corresponding title for females whenever a title is appropriate for males.
  • EXAMPLE: “Dr. Gina Ramos” or “Prof. Maria Cruz”
  • In letters to unknown persons, be specific instead of using “Dear Sir,” “Gentlemen” and assuming that the recipient is a male
  • ALTERNATIVES: “Dear Colleague” or “Editor” or “Professor”
• Use parallelism

  Same goes for couples

  • WRONG: “Mr. and Mrs. Manny Pacquiao”
  • CORRECT: “Mr. and Ms. Manny and Jinkee Pacquaio”; “Mr. and Mrs. Pacquiao”; “Manny and Jinkee Pacquiao”; “Manny and Jinkee”
• Use parallelism

  Even in work relationships where one is superior than the other, stick to parallelism:

  • WRONG: “Rep. Arcillas and her assistant Girlie”
  • CORRECT: Rep. Arcillas and her assistant Ms. Santos”
• Use of terms that call attention to a particular sex in designating concepts, roles, occupations, etc.

  PROBLEM:

  • Calls unnecessary attention to the sex of the subject
• Use of terms that call attention to a particular sex in designating concepts, roles, occupations, etc.

  PROBLEM:

  • Makes unnecessary distinction between women and men, thereby perpetuating stereotypes
• Use of terms that call attention to a person’s sex in designating roles, concepts, activities, occupations

  • motherhood, fatherhood - parenthood
  • stewardess, steward - flight/cabin attendant
  • headmasters, headmistress - principals
  • girl watching - street harassment
  • cleaning women, cleaning lady - cleaners
  • Chambermaid - Housekeeper
• Gender Polarization

  • PROBLEM: The terms “womanly,” “manly,” “feminine” and “masculine” depict each sex as being solely associated with particular attributes, and therefore perpetuate stereotypes
  • ALTERNATIVE: Use specific words instead to express every shade of meaning
• Gender Polarization

  • PROBLEM: Some words have “manly” and “womanly” versions
  • ALTERNATIVE: Use a generic word not associated with gender stereotypes
• Gender Polarization

  Attribute - Male Adjective - Female Adjective

  • forcefulness - charismatic - domineering
  • light-headedness - easygoing - frivolous
  • forgetfulness - absent-minded - scatterbrained
  • anger - outraged - hysterical
• Gender Polarization

  Attribute - Male Adjective - Female Adjective

  • interest in things - curious - nosy
  • ordinary appearance - ... - homely or plain
  • thoughtfulness - concerned - high-strung
• Sexually derogatory meanings attached to words referring to women

  • Mistress vs. Master
  • Hostess vs. Host
  • Madam vs. Sir
  • Matron vs. Patron
• Lexical Gap

  THE PROBLEM:

  • In the English language, there is an absence or lack of words that refer to women’s experiences
• Lexical Gap

  Examples

  • Men are “henpecked” but women are not “cock-pecked.”
• Lexical Gap

  Examples

  • We refer to men’s “virility” but there is not equivalent word for women’s experience.
• Lexical Gap

  Examples

  • There is “patronage” but no “matronage.”