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Gender neutral language: Difference between revisions
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imported>Niki Skylark (→Gender neutral language in other languages: I added a section about gender neutral language in Germany based on a German professor who grew up in Germany and Switzerland, and my own ability to speak German.) |
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== Gender neutral language in English == | == Gender neutral language in English == | ||
Traditional third-person singular [[pronoun]]s for known people ("he/him/his/his/himself" and "she/her/her/hers/herself") are gendered [[male]] or [[female]]. There are many possible gender neutral alternatives to these, e.g. avoiding the pronouns altogether, using "they/them/their/theirs/themself" (which is often seen as being a plural or ambiguous pronoun), using "it/it/its/its/itself" (which is often seen as being only for nonhuman objects), or using [[neopronoun]]s (some sets of which are created specifically to be gender neutral). Some people prefer being referred to without gendered pronouns, and they may have a preference for which set of pronouns they prefer, or they may prefer being referred to by no pronouns at all. These preferences are often linked to | Traditional third-person singular [[pronoun]]s for known people ("he/him/his/his/himself" and "she/her/her/hers/herself") are gendered [[male]] or [[female]]. There are many possible gender neutral alternatives to these, e.g. avoiding the pronouns altogether, using "they/them/their/theirs/themself" (which is often seen as being a plural or ambiguous pronoun), using "it/it/its/its/itself" (which is often seen as being only for nonhuman objects), or using [[neopronoun]]s (some sets of which are created specifically to be gender neutral). Some people prefer being referred to without gendered pronouns, and they may have a preference for which set of pronouns they prefer, or they may prefer being referred to by no pronouns at all. These preferences are often linked to nonbinary gender identity. | ||
Many jobs have gendered titles, or the possibility of gendered titles. Gender neutral language here can consist of finding an alternative term for the job or making one of the existing terms neutral by applying it to people of all genders. An example of the former is how "firefighter" replaces "fireman/firewoman", and an example of the latter is how "actor" is sometimes used for women and people of other genders as well as men. Some gendered terms, like "author/authress", have multiple alternatives: "author" is now used for people of all genders, and the term "writer" means essentially the same thing but has never been gendered. | Many jobs have gendered titles, or the possibility of gendered titles. Gender neutral language here can consist of finding an alternative term for the job or making one of the existing terms neutral by applying it to people of all genders. An example of the former is how "firefighter" replaces "fireman/firewoman", and an example of the latter is how "actor" is sometimes used for women and people of other genders as well as men. Some gendered terms, like "author/authress", have multiple alternatives: "author" is now used for people of all genders, and the term "writer" means essentially the same thing but has never been gendered. | ||
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Creating gender neutral language in German is complicated by the fact that there are no gender neutral endings for nouns. The suffix ''in'' is attached to words to make them feminine, but there is no corresponding ending to make a word the neutral gender. | Creating gender neutral language in German is complicated by the fact that there are no gender neutral endings for nouns. The suffix ''in'' is attached to words to make them feminine, but there is no corresponding ending to make a word the neutral gender. | ||
There is pressure in Germany to be more inclusive when it comes to gender<ref name=":1">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/24/germans-get-tongues-around-gender-neutral-language</ref>. However, while this inclusivity includes men and women, it tends to ignore | There is pressure in Germany to be more inclusive when it comes to gender<ref name=":1">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/24/germans-get-tongues-around-gender-neutral-language</ref>. However, while this inclusivity includes men and women, it tends to ignore nonbinary genders. There is also still much debate over how to create this inclusivity. For instance, the words ''der Student'' refers to a student and implies that the student is a man. ''Die Studentin'' refers to a student who is a woman. In order to include both men and women, some Germans write ''Studenten/nin'', others choose ''Student_in'', and still others prefer ''Studierende''<ref name=":2">http://genderfork.com/2014/question-german-gender-neutral-language/</ref>''.'' Even beyond that, there are many different, competing standards<ref name=":0" />. | ||
Some predict that instead of creating more gender inclusive ways of writing, nouns may just begin to default to the neutral gender. Angela Merkel is now called ''die Bundeskanzlerin,'' which has the feminine ending. Eventually, she might just become ''das Bundeskanzler,'' which is neutral and could refer to any gender<ref name=":1" />. | Some predict that instead of creating more gender inclusive ways of writing, nouns may just begin to default to the neutral gender. Angela Merkel is now called ''die Bundeskanzlerin,'' which has the feminine ending. Eventually, she might just become ''das Bundeskanzler,'' which is neutral and could refer to any gender<ref name=":1" />. | ||