Everything about Gender-neutral Language totally explained
Gender-neutral language,
gender-inclusive language, or
gender neutrality is
language use that aims at minimizing assumptions regarding the
gender, or
biological sex, of human
referents. For example, this may include replacing words such as
chairman and
stewardess with terms such as
chairperson and
flight attendant.
The term shouldn't be confused with that of
genderless language, which refers to languages without
grammatical gender.
The advocacy of gender-neutral language reflects at least two different agenda:
- One aims to clarify the inclusion of both sexes or genders (gender-inclusive language).
- The other proposes that gender, as a category, is rarely worth marking in language (gender-neutral language).
Clearly, removing gender marking in language altogether would automatically cover issues of inclusion.
Gender-neutral language is sometimes described as
non-sexist language by advocates, and
politically-correct language by opponents.
Various forms of gender-neutral
language became a common feature in written and spoken versions of many languages in the late
twentieth century. Many
feminists have argued that prior to this time, the practice of assigning masculine gender to
generic antecedents was due to every language "[reflecting] the prejudices of the society in which it evolved, and English evolved through most of its history in a male-centered,
patriarchal society."
Various languages employ different means to achieve gender neutrality, see the following articles for specific disussions:
Gender neutrality in English
Gender-neutrality in languages with grammatical gender
Gender-neutrality in genderless languagesFurther Information
Get more info on 'Gender-neutral Language'.
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