"Gender-neutral language"...
From Simon & Schuster - Handbook for Writers, seventh edition, by Troyka and Hesse, one of the course manuals used in many English classes at college/university:
Quote:
Gender-neutral language, also referred to as gender-free or nonsexist language, relies on terms that don't communicate whether the person is male or female (for example, in replacing policeman with police officer or doctors' wives with doctors' spouses).
Sexist language assigns roles or characteristics to people based on their sex and gender. Most women and men today feel that sexist language unfairly discriminates against both sexes.
Ok, I can live with that... police officer, not policeman... fine...
But this is where they are crossing some lines (probably all for the sake of political correctness):
Quote:
NO: Man is a social animal.
YES: People are social animals.
NO: The history of mankind is predominately violent.
YES: Human history is predominately violent.
NO: Dogs are men's best friends.
YES: Dogs are people's best friends.
NO: the common man
YES: the average person
NO: man-sized sandwich
YES: huge sandwich
NO: old wives' tale
YES: superstition
WHAT?!?
Quote:
NO: male nurse
YES: nurse
NO: gal Friday
YES: assistant
NO: coed
YES: student
NO: My girl can help.
YES: My secretary can help. <--- LOL
That's all pretty innocent, but the problems (imo) start when you consistently start replacing "sexist" words with the gender-neutral versions.
Examples from the book:
Quote:
Many of man's most important inventions are found not in scientific laboratories but in the home.
Among these inventions are the many home appliances that were designed in the early 1900s to simplify women's housework.
Before such appliances became available, a family was fortunate if the husband could afford to hire a cleaning lady or a maid to help with the housework.
None of the inventors of modern home appliances could have guessed what far-reaching effects his inventions would have on our society.
OK, now for the "clean" version:
Quote:
Many of humanity's most important inventions are found not in scientific laboratories but in the home.
Among these inventions are the many home appliances that were designed in the early 1900s to simplify homemakers' housework.
Before such appliances became available, a family was fortunate if it could afford to hire a cleaning person or a housekeeper/household helper to help with the housework.
None of the inventors of modern home appliances could have guessed what far-reaching effects their inventions would have on our society.
Now that's just downright ridiculous - not to mention that it is nothing less than rewriting history: the context is the early 20th century.... newsflash: how many male homemakers were there in the early 20th century? Replacing housewife with homemaker omits an important aspect, as does the replacement of his inventions with their inventions: all appliances happened to have been invented by males.......
Maybe I should pull a Bethany Hauf on my teacher, and submit the "unclean" version, then sue her (she's indeed female, so I can use "her" here, right? Or is that sexist?) for my lower grade :D
