Recognizing sexist language

Sexist language stereotypes or demeans women or men. Using nonsexist language is a matter of courtesy—of respect for and sensitivity to the feelings of others.

Some sexist language is easy to recognize because it reflects genuine contempt for women: referring to a woman as a “chick,” for example, or calling a lawyer a “lady lawyer.”

Other forms of sexist language are less blatant. The following practices, while they may not result from conscious sexism, reflect stereotypical thinking: referring to members of one profession as exclusively male or exclusively female, using different conventions when naming or identifying women and men, or assuming that all of one’s readers are men.

Still other forms of sexist language result from outmoded traditions. The pronouns he, him, and his, for instance, were traditionally used to refer generically to persons of either sex. Nowadays, to avoid that sexist usage, some writers use she, her, and hers generically or substitute the female pronouns alternately with the male pronouns.

But both forms are sexist—for excluding one sex entirely or for making assumptions about the members of particular professions.

Similarly, the nouns man and men were once used indefinitely to refer to persons of either sex. Current usage demands gender-neutral terms for references to both men and women.

Avoiding sexist language

Exercises:

Sexist language 1

Sexist language 2

Sexist language 3