The English language is constantly evolving in order to adapt to the many different views and practices of society. One aspect of the English language that has developed in the last few decades involves acknowledging and avoiding sexist language.
Some sexist language roots from the third person singular category of personal pronouns. Unfortunately, that category does not include a gender-neutral option which has led many writers and speakers to choose he/she, him/her, or his/hers when they are referring to someone or something. After I read about this problem I decided to make a list of sexist language that I have recently noticed or thought about. Some basic terms that came to mind are the words congressmen, firemen, and garbage men. I suddenly remembered that when I was a little girl I wanted to become a garbage man like my father when I grew up because he used to find really neat things in the trash. Although this type of language was common over thirty years ago when I was a kid, I have also noticed in the last few decades that some of these types of words are evolving into nonsexist terms. For instance, I rarely hear the word actress anymore because it has evolved into the gender-neutral term actor. Today it is common to refer to airline servers as flight attendants instead to stewardesses because clearly not all flight attendants are women, and not all women want to be referred to in ‘mistress’ terms, such as waitress, seamstress, and actress.
Mistress terms are also evolving into neutral terms concerning the marriage status of a female. Years ago women were addressed as Mrs. if she was married or Miss if she was not. Today women are commonly addressed as Ms. which excludes a woman’s marital status. The Mr. and Mrs. terms sound much like Master and Mistress in my opinion. There also needs to be a word that is neutral when referring to someone as ma’am or sir, because some people are transgendered which can make it difficult for some to determine how to refer to them. I have a transgendered relative, and I can say that such situations are usually awkward to both parties.
Sexist language can be offensive to all genders. I recall the speech that my college president gave the day I graduated community college. He was expressing the difficulties that single parents face as college students, and how much “she” struggles to overcome those difficulties so “she” can give “herself” and “her” kids a better life. Sadly, I was sitting next to a man who was a single father who experienced the same struggles that I did, yet none of those men were recognized in that speech.
Something else that is interesting is the fact that many people have a sexist reaction to certain words that regard professions. For instance, after my father became too old to be a sanitary engineer, he became a prison nurse. Although he never presented himself as a doctor, and he even corrected inmates who addressed him as one, most of the inmates could not grasp the fact that a man was a nurse because many people naturally relate the word to a female. Likewise, many people assume that female doctors as nurses because they think that most doctors are men—many written sentences include same type of language. Another thing that I have noticed about sexist language is how much it is used figuratively, such as you throw like a girl, man up, or grow some balls. I think these saying are highly offensive, but I constantly hear them.
Sadly, women and men both get excluded or targeted with sexist labeling on food products. Today’s market presents “Skinny Girl Cocktails” and “Hungry-Man Dinners.” They must assume that men don’t want to lose weight or drink cocktails, and that women don’t have hardy appetites or don’t know how to cook. Luckily many corporations are excluding sexist language, such as Ace Hardware. Their commercial song used to say “Ace is the place of the helpful hardware man”—but now they have replaced man with the word folks.
As the English language continues to evolve, so will the way we address one another. Luckily many people today try to avoid using sexist language which gives me hope.
Some sexist language roots from the third person singular category of personal pronouns. Unfortunately, that category does not include a gender-neutral option which has led many writers and speakers to choose he/she, him/her, or his/hers when they are referring to someone or something. After I read about this problem I decided to make a list of sexist language that I have recently noticed or thought about. Some basic terms that came to mind are the words congressmen, firemen, and garbage men. I suddenly remembered that when I was a little girl I wanted to become a garbage man like my father when I grew up because he used to find really neat things in the trash. Although this type of language was common over thirty years ago when I was a kid, I have also noticed in the last few decades that some of these types of words are evolving into nonsexist terms. For instance, I rarely hear the word actress anymore because it has evolved into the gender-neutral term actor. Today it is common to refer to airline servers as flight attendants instead to stewardesses because clearly not all flight attendants are women, and not all women want to be referred to in ‘mistress’ terms, such as waitress, seamstress, and actress.
Mistress terms are also evolving into neutral terms concerning the marriage status of a female. Years ago women were addressed as Mrs. if she was married or Miss if she was not. Today women are commonly addressed as Ms. which excludes a woman’s marital status. The Mr. and Mrs. terms sound much like Master and Mistress in my opinion. There also needs to be a word that is neutral when referring to someone as ma’am or sir, because some people are transgendered which can make it difficult for some to determine how to refer to them. I have a transgendered relative, and I can say that such situations are usually awkward to both parties.
Sexist language can be offensive to all genders. I recall the speech that my college president gave the day I graduated community college. He was expressing the difficulties that single parents face as college students, and how much “she” struggles to overcome those difficulties so “she” can give “herself” and “her” kids a better life. Sadly, I was sitting next to a man who was a single father who experienced the same struggles that I did, yet none of those men were recognized in that speech.
Something else that is interesting is the fact that many people have a sexist reaction to certain words that regard professions. For instance, after my father became too old to be a sanitary engineer, he became a prison nurse. Although he never presented himself as a doctor, and he even corrected inmates who addressed him as one, most of the inmates could not grasp the fact that a man was a nurse because many people naturally relate the word to a female. Likewise, many people assume that female doctors as nurses because they think that most doctors are men—many written sentences include same type of language. Another thing that I have noticed about sexist language is how much it is used figuratively, such as you throw like a girl, man up, or grow some balls. I think these saying are highly offensive, but I constantly hear them.
Sadly, women and men both get excluded or targeted with sexist labeling on food products. Today’s market presents “Skinny Girl Cocktails” and “Hungry-Man Dinners.” They must assume that men don’t want to lose weight or drink cocktails, and that women don’t have hardy appetites or don’t know how to cook. Luckily many corporations are excluding sexist language, such as Ace Hardware. Their commercial song used to say “Ace is the place of the helpful hardware man”—but now they have replaced man with the word folks.
As the English language continues to evolve, so will the way we address one another. Luckily many people today try to avoid using sexist language which gives me hope.