Gender and Society

GENDER
FAIR
LANGUAGE
BEED- 1C, Group-IX
Alcantara, Juaini, Alih
 GENDER FAIR
LANGUAGE

• also known as Gender-Inclusive Language, is a linguistic practice

that aims to reduce gender bias and promote gender equality by
using language that includes and represents all genders equally.
• This includes avoiding the use of language that reinforces
traditional gender stereotypes or excludes or marginalizes
individuals based on their gender.
 GENDER FAIR
LANGUAGE

It allows for a more inclusive representation of

reality and minimizes unnecessary focus on
gender, promoting a focus on actions rather than
sexes.

Examples of Gender-Fair Language include using

gender-neutral terms or using both masculine and
feminine forms to refer to people of any gender.
PRINCIPLE
STRATEGIES
Two PRINCIPLE STRATEGIES to make
languages gender fair and to treat women
and men symmetrically:
 PRINCIPLE
STRATEGIES
1. Neutralization 2. Feminization
It relies on the use of feminine
It is achieved by forms to make female referents
replacing male- visible. It can also mean the
masculine forms incorporation of women into a
(policeman) with group or a profession that was
gender-unmarked once dominated by men e.g. he
forms (police officer) or she instead of he only when
referring to an unknown subject.
VIOLATIONS OF
GENDER-FAIR LANGUAGE
SEXIST LANGUAGE: reinforces unequal gender
relations through stereotypes, microaggressions,
and harassment.

EXAMPLES: “policeman,” “fireman,”

“chauman,” and phrases limiting gender roles.
 VIOLATIONS OF
GENDER FAIR LANGUAGE

These violations of gender-fair language are

condensed as follows:

A. Invisibilization of women: assumes men as

dominant norm, e.g., use of masculine pronouns.
 VIOLATIONS OF
GENDER FAIR LANGUAGE
B. Trivialization: gender-specific terms like “Lady
athlete” objectification with terms like “honey.”

C. Fostering unequal relations: language lacking

parallelism, e.g., “man” and “wife.”

D. Gender polarization: femininity and masculinity

depicted as polar opposites.
 VIOLATIONS OF
GENDER FAIR LANGUAGE

E. Hidden assumptions: sentences implying sexist

perceptions, e.g., “men who care for children as
good as woman.”
SEXIST LANGUAGE
AND CULTURE
• Language perpetuates sexism and gender
discrimination through everyday usage.
• Commercialization and Trivialization of
women are common themes in language, seen
in entertainment, movies, advertisements, and
arts.
• Normalization of Sexism leads to violence
against women and children.
SEXIST LANGUAGE
AND CULTURE
• Sexist Language reinforces the idea of specific
words and traits associated with particular
genders.
• Gender stereotyping occurs daily and
everywhere, from catcalling to derogatory
terms like “stupid” or “bitch.”
• Gender stereotyping extends to jokes about
women of the LGBT community, often
generalizing them as weak.
 APPLI CATION

PROBLEM: By using either he, his, or him as a generic pronoun

when the referent’s gender is unknown or irrelevant, the writer
misinterprets the species as male.
 APPLI CATION
EXAMPLE no. 1: If the researcher is the principal investigator, he
should place an asterisk after his name.

GENDER-FAIR: Place an asterisk after the name of the principal

investigator.

SOLUTION: Use gender-specific pronouns only to identify a specific

gender or a specific person.
 APPLI CATION
EXAMPLE no.2: Repeat the question for each subject so that he
understands it.

GENDER-FAIR: Repeat the question for each male subject so that he

fully understands it.

SOLUTION: Use plural nouns and pronouns if they do not change the
meaning of the sentence.
 APPLI CATION

EXAMPLE no.3: Repeat the question for each subject so that he

understands it.

GENDER-FAIR: Repeat the question for all subjects so that they

understand it.

SOLUTION: Use a first-or second-person perspective.

 APPLI CATION

EXAMPLE no.4: Each supervisor will be at his workstation by 8 a.m.

GENDER-FAIR: Each supervisor will be at his or her workstation by

8 a.m.

SOLUTION: Use a double pronoun; s/he, he or she, he/she, him/her.

 APPLI CATION

PROBLEM: By using man as a generic noun to represent groups that

include women, the writer misinterprets the species as male.
 APPLI CATION
EXAMPLE no.1: The effect of PCBs has been studied extensively in
rats and man.

GENDER-FAIR: The effect of PCBs has been studied extensively in

rats and humans.

SOLUTION: Use human, person, mortal, and their variations:

humankind, humanity, human beings, human race, and people.
 APPLI CATION

EXAMPLE no.2: The governor signed the workmen’s compensation

bill.

GENDER-FAIR: The governor signed the workers’ compensation bill.

SOLUTION: Use a more descriptive or inclusive compound word:

Workmen’s-Workers’; man-sized-sizable, adult-sized; chairman,
chairwoman-chair,chairperson,presider,convener.
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EFFECTS
OF GENDER-FAIR LANGUAGE

Gender-fair Language (GFL) aims at

reducing gender stereotyping and
discrimination.
 POSITIVE EFFECTS OF
GENDER-FAIR LANGUAGE

By using gender-neutral
Gender-Fair Gender-Fair
pronounce and inclusive
Language to Language also
language strategies,
reduce gender bias contributes to
such as paired forms or
and promote social equality and
actively created gender-
inclusivity in progressive
neutral word, the male
communication. attitudes.
bias can be eliminated.
NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF
GENDER-FAIR LANGUAGE

Gender-neutral language
may also lead to Masculine generics
participants influence attitudes and
experiencing their own behavior, especially
social identities to be among women.
threatened.
WE ARE ONLY AS STRONG AS
WE ARE UNITED, AS
WEAK AS WE ARE DIVIDED.

-J.K. ROWLING