Non-Discriminatory Presentation & Practice: Part 2 - Guidelines - A How to Use Non-Sexist Language

A. How to use Non-sexist Language

1. Women aren't man (The use of generic Man)

"Man" is ambiguous - it can mean either human being or male human being. Used as a generic term, it has led to the misrepresentation and exclusion of women, because it has not commonly meant "human being" since the beginning of the eighteenth century. The Oxford English Dictionary concedes that "man" now primarily denotes the male sex. As long as we say "tradesman" or "Distinguished Men of Science" we make it harder for everyone to accept or imagine women in these roles. Research has shown that when people are asked to describe what they think of when they read words like "mankind" and "chairman", they tend to think "male" rather than "female". This is how language becomes a subtle enforcer of inequality.

It is clearer and more precise to use a word that always includes both sexes than one which sometimes includes males only and sometimes both sexes.

Here are some examples of common usage and suggested possible alternatives.

Instead of	Use
man/men	person/people, humans, humanity, human beings, human kind
manmade	handmade, synthetic, artifical, manufactured
spokesman	spokesperson
man in the street	average citizen
manpower	labour, staff
man the desk	staff the desk
man-hours	work-hours
manhole	access hole, utility hole
manned	staffed
chairman	chairperson, chair, convenor, presiding Member
workman	worker
tradesman	tradesperson
foreman	supervisor
policeman	police officer

(Note: If the person alternative is used, it is important to avoid using it only or mainly when the holder is a woman but not when the holder is a man)

2. Women aren't he, his & him (The personal pronoun)

The convention of using "he" as a supposedly neutral third-person singular is inaccurate and discriminatory. There are a number of ways to avoid using the generic "he", "his" and "him".

a) Recast in the plural:

Instead of	Use
When a student enrols he must	When students enrol they must

b) Use they/their as neutral singular pronouns:

Instead of	Use
Each student must submit his essay	Each student must submit their essay

(This is widely accepted now. It was good enough for Shakespeare: "God send everyone their heart's desire".)

c) Substitute he or she or she/he:

Instead of	Use
When a student enrols he must	When a student enrols he or she must

(This may be considered stylistically awkward in scholarly texts, but appropriately precise in legal documents).

d) Reword to avoid the problem:

Instead of	Use
Each student must submit his essay	Each student must submit an essay

3. Women aren't girls, pets or sweeties (Patronising and demeaning expressions)

Many terms in common usage demean or patronise women by according them a lower status or defining them inaccurately and irrelevantly. for example, one still hears mature women referred to as "girls" or even "dear" "love" and "sweetie" in public situations. (Apply this simple test: would you refer to a male as "boy" or "sweetie"?) Usually "woman" or "female" is more accurate and appropriate. "Lady" is also considered condescending or insulting in many situations; it should be used when "gentlemen" would be appropriate for a male in the same situation.

Expressions such as "the weaker sex", "the fair sex", "he behaved like an old woman" should be avoided as they are belittling and insulting to women.

Instead of	Use
The girls in the office	The staff in the office (or staff)
The ladieson the staff	The women on the staff

4. Women should be represented as individual, not in stereotypical roles

Descriptions of women often focus on their roles as "wife" or "mother of", irrespective of their roles or qualifications, for example:

• a Brunswick mother of four has been appointed to the Board (TV news item);
• when the new judges for the High Court were announced, the (first) female judge was described by one television station as the "mother of two", whereas her male colleague was described as "having expertise in Aboriginal law", and
• during the Commonwealth Games in 1990, the swimmer Lisa Curry was often referred to in the media as a "supermun". It is highly unlikely that any male competitors would be described as "superdad".

References to a man's or a woman's physical appearance should be made only if relevant to the particular context. Focus on women's physical attributes often implies that these are their only or most important features, which is trivialising. A typical example is: "The Premier and his attractive blonde wife..." (Newspaper report).

5. Women work too (sex-role stereotyping)

Occupational terms or job titles that relate only to one sex are inaccurate and discriminatory. They should be replaced with neutral, generic terms.

Instead of	Use
businessman	executive/business man or woman
woman doctor	doctor
lady lawyer	lawyer
male nurse	nurse
actress	actor
authoress	author
cleaning lady	cleaner

Academics have wives and families. Academics have families to support

The final example above clearly illustrates sex-role stereotyping; it assumes that all academics are male. The avoidance of the "feminine" suffices (-ess, -ette, -trix) is recommended because they often have trivialising or negative connotations and convey the idea that women are deviations from the norm - the masculine form. Actress, hostess and waitress are still frequently used.

Individual holders of these titles may still prefer them, and that preference should be respected; but such titles should be avoided in job descriptions.

Although it is still mainly women who perform home duties, it should not be assumed that men cannot or do not perform them. In generic descriptions of home duties, it is preferable to use the term "homemaker" because the word "housewife" excludes men.

6. Titles of address

The conventional titles for women - "Mrs" and "Miss" - define women only in terms of their marital status. Women are therefore identified in terms of their relationship to men, whereas men are hardly ever described in terms of their relationship to women. Except for those women who prefer to be conventionally address, the term "Ms" is recommended. It is the only term not linked to marital status and is widely used by both single and married women.

Instead of	Use
Robert Brown and his wife Susan	Robert and Susan Brown
Dress: Black Tie	Dress: Evening

It has become increasingly common for women to keep their birthname after marriage or to revert to it after divorce. Some married women use their birthname in their professional life and adopt their spouse's surname in other contexts. Hyphenated or double surnames are also increasingly used by married women. In all cases, care should be taken that a woman, like a man, is addressed by the name which she prefers.

In correspondence, the salutation which extends equal treatment to both sexes is Dear Sir/Madam or Dear madam or Sir . One also can use Dear Manager or Dear Colleague.

7. Compliments

Some of the things you may be used to saying to women are not really complimentary anymore. Some comments to avoid are:

"You think just like a man"

"You're pretty smart for a woman"

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about it"

"You're beautiful when you're angry"

"You're really feminine for a career woman"

"What's a cute little thing like you doing at a meeting like this?"

Again, if you are not sure about the compliment you are about to make, try substituting the opposite sex into the sentence. For example would you say to a male colleague:

"You look handsome when you're angry"

"You're pretty smart for a man"

"You're really masculine for a career man"

"What's a pretty boy like you doing here?"

Anthing that starts out, "This may sound male chauvinist..." is sure to sound exactly that, from beginning to end.

8. Humorous Sexism

Finally, there are those who have some idea of what sexism is, but think it is a trivial problem and therefore caricature it. For example: "Wally Lewis played for Wynnum-Many. Oops! I should say Wynnum-Personly.

Women are weary of this kind of weak humour, and of being accused of humourlessness if they don't respond appreciatively. Such jokes reveal a displaced contempt for women. Other examples are:

"I wish some woman would come and sexually harass me"

"With Rachel here, I'd better watch my language"

"I'll explain that again, for the benefit of the girls - sorry - ladies, sorry, persons"