Gender-fair Language

This lesson is about identifying steps that can be taken to achieve gender-fair language.
Language and Gender Relations

Language is a potent tool for how humans understand

and participate in the world. It can shape how we see
society. It is a part of culture. In this regard, language is
not a neutral force; it enforces certain ideas about
people including gender.
Violation of Gender-fair Language

Sexist language is a tool that reinforces

unequal gender relations through sex-role
stereotypes, microaggressions, and sexual
harassment. Language can be used to abuse,
such as in the case of sexual harassment, or to
perpetuate stereotypes. It can form subtle
messages that reinforce unfair relations.
Violation of Gender-fair Language

Invisibilization of Women
The invisibilization of women is rooted in the
assumption that men are dominant and are
the norm of the fullness of humanity, and
women do not exist. Some obvious examples of
women invisibilization in language are:
 Violation of Gender-fair Language

Invisibilization of Women
• The generic use of masculine pronouns or the use
of a masculine general.

• The assumption that certain functions or jobs are

performed by men instead of both genders.

• The use of male job titles or terms ending in man to

refer to functions that may be given to both
Violation of Gender-fair Language

Trivialization of Women

• Bringing attention to the gender of a person, if that

person is a woman.

• The perception of women as immature.

• The objectification or likening to objects of women.

Violation of Gender-fair Language

Fostering unequal gender relations

• Language that lacks parallelism fosters

unequal gender relations. The use of “man
and wife” assumes that men are still men
and women’s identities are subsumed and
shifted into beings in relation to their
husbands.
Violation of Gender-fair Language

Gender polarization of words in use of

adjectives
The personal care brand Pantene came out with an
advertisement that used parallel adjectives to show the
difference in perception regarding men and women. Both
men and women did the same activity, but were described
differently. The polarization of adjectives shows how
perception does change how one sees certain acts,
depending on who performs them.
Violation of Gender-fair Language

Hidden Assumptions

Hidden assumptions in sentences can also be

forms of microaggression if the underlying
perceptions are sexist and degrading.
Philippine Culture and Language

Filipino or Tagalog is mainly gender-neutral, without

gendered characteristics or titles for men or women.
Words that are gendered came from another
culture, which were adopted after 400 years of
colonization. The values and the shaping of the
education system were influenced by Western
powers and ideals. Filipinos portray a mix of identities,
an infusion of both native and foreign perspectives
and values.
Identities and Naming Things

It is a tool for understanding the world as well as for

naming and describing people and things.
Language gives a person the power to define
oneself and the external world and one’s place in it.
It provides a definition of others as well, and one’s
relationship with them. Through language, people
can reflect on their own gendered identities, and
battle the definitions society imposes on them.
Sexist Language and Culture

Language that admonishes certain acts depending

on one’s gender is a form of external social control.
Common themes of a sexist language is the
commercialization and trivialization of women. These
sexist portrayals of women extend to the advertising
industry, entertainment industry, and the arts.
Toward a Gender-fair Language

The use of gender-fair language in institutions of

education and the removal of sexist language as
imperative to gender-responsiveness is currently
being advocated.
The creation of a comprehensive gender-fair
language in institutions are indicators for a gender-
fair institution. These actions are small steps one can
take in ensuring that institutions are indeed gender-
fair.