Sexist Language

The sexist language supports inequality and sexism and can block people from following their dreams. Like in example If engineers are always spoken of as male, any girl who dream to be engineer may feel that she has no hope, since all engineers are male. Sexist language also offends women when they find themselves ignored.

People may recognize the problems with sexist language, but talking or writing in a non-sexist way seems very awkward and disrupts the flow of the paper but finding solutions is not always easy.

Often the best way to solve the problem is to recast the entire sentence; in other words, find a completely different way of expressing your idea. Sometimes, however, sexist language can be erased without completely changing the sentence. The best way to tackle the

• If you are speaking of a single hypothetical individual, use person instead of man.

• Use genderless titles whenever possible, such as flight attendant instead of stewardess, firefighter instead of fireman, and homemaker instead of housewife. Avoid adding gender markers to genderless titles, such as male nurse; use the genderless title alone (i.e., nurse).

• Rework sentences in the plural to avoid gendered pronouns and possessive adjectives. This will create smoother and more grammatically correct prose than using a plural pronoun with a singular subject. (Sexist: Each student makes up his own schedule. Grammatically incorrect: Each student makes up their own schedule. Gender-neutral and grammatically correct: Students make up their own schedules.)

• When it is not possible to recast sentences in the plural, use he or she or his or her to be inclusive. (The winning contestant must claim his or her prize by Tuesday.) However, using this formulation too often can break up the flow of your writing, so use it sparingly.

In general, avoid using different words for men and women who perform the