Gender-Fair Language Even though you don't intend any gender bias in your writing, you must be careful

not to use language that makes one gender seem superior to another (more important, active, desirable, powerful, prevalent, pure, intelligent, etc.). This often means avoiding language biased in favor of men. Here are some guidelines for avoiding this problem: 1. Use gender-neutral nouns: humankind not mankind humanity not mankind human race not mankind human beings not men all people not all men mortals not mortal men labor hours not man hours sizable not man-sized staff employees not man power This rule applies especially to language that names professional roles: police officer not policeman fire fighter not fireman mail carrier not mailman chair not chairman workers not workmen home maker not house wife doctor, physician not lady doctor, female physician lawyer, attorney not lady lawyer, woman attorney engineer not female engineer executive not female executive, executrix nurse not male nurse secretary not male secretary sailor not seaman aviator not airman However, use your judgment. Some words and phrases don't lend themselves well to gender fairness: manhole cover not personhole (womanhole) cover Neanderthal Man not Neanderthal Person yeoman not yeoperson statesmanship not stateswomanship, statespersonship unmanned space craft not unpersoned space craft foreman not forewoman, foreperson 2. Reduce the number of gender-specific pronouns: Use plurals where possible. The administrator requires nurses to sterilize their hands before entering the intensive care area. not The administrator requires every nurse to sterilize her hands before entering the intensive care unit. Use second person, imperative verbs ("commands") where appropriate. Forklift operator: leave your machine in a fork-down, locked position. not The forklift operator must leave his machine in a fork-down, locked position.

Violate the old "agreement" rule (pronouns must agree in number with their antecedents) in favor of the more important gender-fair principle. Everyone left their laptop computer in care of the proctor. not Everyone left his laptop computer in care of the proctor. Note: "Everyone" implies plurality but is singular in FORM and so, traditionally, calls for a singular pronoun to follow: "his" or "her." In this sort of construction, some writers actually stick in both pronouns--"his or her"--in order to obey the old agreement rule AND maintain gender fairness. Unfortunately, "his or her" sounds labored to most of us (very labored if used frequently). Use articles (sometimes) instead of possessive pronouns: After filling out an application, the prospective employee should proceed to the secretarial lounge. not After filling out her application, the prospective employee should proceed to the secretarial lounge. 3. Give equal treatment to men and women. Dr. Larsen and Dr. Jones are the new members of our anesthetics staff. or Dr. James Larsen and Dr. Sally Jones are the new members of our anesthetics staff. not Dr. Larsen and Dr. Sally Jones are the new members of our anesthetics staff. 4. When it's important to specify gender, do it deliberately: "Give each male test subject his injection at precisely 12:00 noon each day." not "Give each test subject his injection at precisely 12:00 noon each day." 5. Avoid sexual imagery and sexual jokes. In general, men have more trouble with this than women do--pardon my accurate sexism here. Solution: just cut it out, guys! It's extremely offensive, and it will get you into trouble, even if you think you're confining it to communications with "the guys." Two examples: o An acquaintance of mine wrote in a business memo to his company's all-male marketing department that a certain product was good, but they needed to "put tits on it." Descriptive language, and it communicated concisely. Just one problem: it seriously offended certain people who later saw the memo. My acquaintance got into hot water, as he well deserved. o A speaker at a technical conference I attended was describing the unreasonableness of his managers in trying to solve a particular time-sensitive problem simply by assigning more people to work on it. "That was stupid," the speaker asserted. "Just assigning more men to the job wasn't going to make us meet the deadline. Some projects have a certain incubation time. A woman can produce a baby in nine months with the help of one man; she can't produce it in one month with the help of nine men." This speaker was confronted by several angry women immediately after his presentation. He left the conference room looking very chastened. Well. These guidelines should keep you out of gender-bias trouble. There are other guidelines--such as the one that advises you to alternate masculine and feminine pronouns, using feminine where masculine has traditionally been used. But be careful with guidelines like that. They can make your writing look forced and unnatural. You want your writing to feel natural as well as affirming of the worth and dignity of both genders. If you're in doubt, just have a friend of the opposite gender read through your writing. Here are some exercises to help you refine your gender-sensitive (and all-around sensitive) sentences.

Exercise #1: Revise each sentence to achieve gender fairness and to avoid offending folks of all kinds. We sent our patient to see Dr. Smith and Dr. Jenny Brown.

Our workmen have logged scores of man hours on this project.

A team of firemen and state militiamen controlled the blaze and the crowd.

An engineer knows his designs will be put to the test in this earthquake zone.

Everyone at the conference wanted his name on his company's promotional items.

Each client must sign his or her waiver in the presence of his or her legal representative.

ACME has developed a new product for hair-disadvantaged men.

Our five-year mission is to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Ever since our client cut his man power, he can't handle the surge in demand for his company's product. [Let's assume that the client referred to is male.]

The policeman stated that the suspect escaped by diving into an open personhole in the street.

This Internet product will benefit all mankind.

Our new line of clothing accommodates the differently sized.

No one wants to admit that he or she is afraid of a man-sized job like this.

A speech, like a woman's skirt, should be short enough to hold interest, yet long enough to cover the subject.

A lawyer wants his client to be calm, a doctor wants his patient to be obedient, a CEO wants his stockholders to be worshipful.