Gender Neutral Examples and Alternatives

Writing that does not favor one gender over another is gender-neutral writing. At least consider the concept.

Example............................. Alternatives
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mankind...............................humanity, people, human beings
man's achievements.........human achievements
man-made..........................synthetic, manufactured, machine-made
common man....................average person, ordinary person
man-hours..........................staff hours
chairman.............................chair
businessman....................business executive
fireman................................firefighter
mailman.............................mail carrier
steward.............................. flight attendant
stewardess........................flight attendant
policeman/woman...........police officer
congressman/woman.....congressional representative

English has generic pronouns like: he, his, and him which can be changed into plurals and made gender neutral. If you do use gender specific writing you can use more variety. Pronouns can also be changed to plural pronouns to become more acceptable. There are other articles on Associated Content about this topic that do a great job of talking about how this gender-neutral writing can be accomplished. The underlying concept behind this movement is that in a subtle way if women or young women read stories where men are always the "fireman" they may internalize the concept that this is not a job suitable for a female. If men (boys) constantly read stories where the women are the stay at home moms, they may internalize the concept that it is inappropriate for a male to be at home and take care of the children and clean the house.

Removing the gender aspect of our writing can start a process of change. The writing of books where males and females are in professions or situations which are not as standard also helps remove gender stereotyping. Some studies have shown that teachers may call on boys in a class more often than girls and that this may be partially related to subject. Teachers that are made more sensitive to gender-neutrality or to gender equalization could really make a difference in the future of many young men and women.

It should not be thought that simply changing a few words will bring about drastic cultural change, but knowing more about the underlying concept helps us to make those initial steps. When you get a chance re-read some old children's stories. "Jack and Jill" both went up the hill. As you read old books you may become more sensitive to how we have been affected by the words themselves.

In the process we do not want to "sterilize" our writing or somehow neglect the wonder of our differences. Books still need to reflect the dynamics of relationships between men and women or between boys and girls and our books still need to convey such interaction. We don't want to create situations where young girls do not think they could become the president or young men from thinking they could become a nurse. It is significant that we now have had a black presidential candidate and a woman vice presidential candidate. This shows we are making progress.