Sioson, Rayanne Faith D.

Introduction to Language, Society and Culture

ABELS 2-1

Women behind 'mankind'

Language, ever since have been an important part of people's life. It is a medium of
communication, hence, it is used in political motives, economic operation, relationship
establishment and academic purposes. But what if the language used exercises a form of
gender discrimination, sexism in language? The influence of language to a person is vast, it
gives them identity. If the language marginalizes a certain group of sex then it shall, without a
doubt, cause degradation or inferiority to their sexual identity, in this case, women.

Sexism in language can also be observed in school textbooks and activities. I was in
elementary when I first encountered the word 'mankind'. I read it from a story in an English
textbook. Eventually, I discovered that the word refers to every individual of every sex, female
and male. But as a child who still had to learn more words, I got confused as I had learned that
woman is female and man is male. 'Mankind' pertains to all individual of any sex and certainly,
the word 'man' from 'mankind' is definitely not woman. However, that confusion began to
subside gradually every time I move up another grade. Those words seemed to not matter and
so I decided to do the same until I once again stumbled upon a word from John Lenon's
Imagine, 'brotherhood of man'. It became clear to me then that these words, even the earlier
ones that I had learned, favors the populace of men, that man can represent woman but never
can a woman represent a man. I started to see the implicit notions of male supremacy in the
language, at school, in politics, in the community even at home.

The words 'mankind' and 'brotherhood of man' made it seem that women are invisible and
or of unequal worth. It made me wonder about the women and myself because it so happens
that I am female. I thought about the uncountable times I wrote 'mankind' in essays, quizzes,
etc. and how I ignorantly erased myself from my own works. My name is written on every paper
but the teachers would only know I'm female by the time they look at me or my profile in their
index cards. My identity does not matter and the language had made me lose my sense of
identity (even individuality). Sexism in the language manipulated women to doubt that they are
capable of having a sense of individuality and can be addressed separately from men.
 The frequent use of 'his' to represent both female and male is not a trivial matter, it is a
frequent elimination of the presence of women. Behind every recurrent male-patronizing word
are hundreds, thousands or even millions of forgotten, devalued women. Persistent use of
sexism in language constantly strengthens the system of patriarchy and it will continue to
discriminate against women. The practice of gender equality should not be visible only through
physical deeds, the equity in gender treatment should start in the linguistic aspect. Women
should be able to hold a position of their own and not be forced in contentment of being
represented by men. Women should be allowed to exercise their authority and recognition
without being stereotyped.