Chapter Three
Despite the insurmountable effort put to correct gender inequities, much remain desired. One will be tempted to think that in democratic countries, such as the United States, there are no gender imbalances. After all the progress made by women in earning respect and equal opportunities as their male counterparts, it is still a man’s world. This can be depicted by the use of generic words to mean both sexes as if they were one. Mostly the generic masculine words stand for both males and females; as seen in certain pronouns and man-linked words.
I agree with researchers who have looked into sexism in the language, particularly those who have suggested that there is a need to swap he with he/she or she/he when referring to persons of unknown sex. This can be done in both written and spoken language. Carrying out such replacements will make sure that we reverse the deeply rooted culture of glorifying the male gender. I also support the proposition of omitting pronouns in sentences. This can be done by rewording the sentences in a manner that allows the use of articles that render usage of pronouns in sentences grammatically incorrect. Another way of removing sexism from sentences is employing the use pronouns in their plural form; examples include they and them (Beebe, Beebe & Ivy 63).
In general use of generic language can communicate our attitudes, that is, using he to mean both sexes translates to demeaning the female gender unlike the use of he/she or she/he which can be translated to mean that we are gender conscious. Additionally, using non-sexist pronouns means that we remain other-oriented thereby improving how we relate to the person of the opposite sex. Finally, an all-inclusive language makes a conversation appear more informed and more contemporary.
Work Cited
Beebe, Steven A., Susan J. Beebe, and Diana K. Ivy. Communication: Principles for a lifetime. Pearson Higher Ed, 2012.
