Let’s Revisit Gendered Language

Written by: AC Goldberg / Transgender Voice / April 21, 2021 / 10 minutes read

Ladies and gentle...I mean, everyone, we have a problem. There are many reasons to ditch gendered language. In this brief article I will give some examples of language to revisit and rationale, as we move toward a more inclusive society. While in some languages it may be next to impossible to remove gender from nouns, verbs and adjectives, English makes it quite easy.

Why is our language, especially in English, so gendered in the first place? Gendered language demonstrates a bias towards a specific sex or social gender. In English, this includes using gender-specific terminology when referring to professions or people, as in, 'mailman' or 'stewardess', or defaulting to masculine pronouns (he/him/his) to speak or write about people in general, as in 'to each his own’.

Canadian academic, Allyson Jule, explains the phenomenon of defaulting to the “masculine” forms of words as 'the historical patriarchal hierarchy that has existed between men and women, where one (man) is considered the norm, and the other (woman) is marked as other – as something quite different from the norm' in her book, A Beginner's Guide to Language and Gender.

Why is gendered language harmful?

When we see words like businessman, mailman, freshman, policeman, fireman, mankind and chairman...who are we picturing? Language influences the way we think. When we don’t hear or speak about representation, we are less likely to see it. When people don’t see themselves represented within a group, they are less likely to to imagine belonging to that group, even if it is something they desire.

This goes in all directions. Whereas defaulting to the masculine form of nouns is harmful to female representation in certain fields, let’s think about this. Many of the most common gendered nouns we hear are: waitress, stewardess, maid, hostess, mistress, etc. Why are people we gender as female so frequently seen as subservient in our language? These language choices are also exclusionary of people with non-binary genders.

It’s time to move toward using inclusive language.

Constantly using language that reinforces the false notion that gender is binary harms all people. Not only are we perpetuating stereotypes by using this language, but we are excluding those who do not fit squarely into the categories of male or female. Nonbinary people are not just excluded in this language, they are made to be invisible, because there is no flexibility in verbal representation, so our own self-conceived visual representation is lacking as well.

When people don’t see themselves represented within a group, they are less likely to to imagine belonging to that group, even if it is something they desire.

Here are some examples of inclusive language:

When possible, avoid using he/she and use the singular they. This is easier than you think! 

Replace: Each examinee must turn in his/her test when the timer rings. 

With: Each examinee must turn in their test when the timer rings. 

Instead of defaulting to “he,” default to “they.” For example:

Replace: A chemist makes half as much at a university as he would working for a pharmaceutical company.

With: A chemist makes half as much at a university as they would working for a pharmaceutical company.

But what about those gendered nouns? How can we avoid them?

Here’s a table of inclusive terms to add to your vocabulary.

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