What’s wrong with words like ‘fireman’, ‘policeman’, ‘draughtsman’ and ‘chairman’? These words are gendered - they have ‘man’ in them.
Such gender-specific terms fail to recognise the women who are in these very occupations. Gender-neutral language refers to words that do not identify a gender.
According to Lucy Tatman, senior lecturer in gender studies at the University of Tasmania, the words have ‘man’ in them because only men were allowed to work in these professions many decades ago.
“Women literally were not allowed to be firefighters, or to hold the top position on a company board,” Dr Tatman said.
However, that has now changed but many people still use these gendered terms.
The use of these gendered terms perpetuates the system that men are in charge of everything and that they know everything, according to Sara Niner from Monash University.
"These are jobs that only men can do because they are big and strong, they have the authority and they’re smart," Dr Niner says.
The move towards gender-neutral language
With growing awareness, people are moving away from gendered terms and embracing gender-neutral language.
“Now that women are able to hold these positions, using gender inclusive terms like ‘firefighter’ or ‘chair’ reflects the reality that the person fighting the fire or chairing the board could be a man or a woman,” Dr Tatman said.
Another example is ‘chair’ or ‘chairperson’. These are more gender-neutral terms compared to ‘chairman’ or ‘chairwomen’, and they are used more often now.
English has never really been a gender-neutral language. However, this was not always the case, according to Dr Tatman.
“It was possible, hundreds of years ago, to use the pronoun ‘they’ in English to refer to someone in the singular without specifying a gender. This use of ‘they’ as a gender-neutral pronoun is currently being revived.”
While some may have an issue with ‘they’ being used in a singular context, many others argue that ‘they’ should be adopted as English’s standard third-person, gender-neutral pronoun.
Apart from using ‘they’, you can use more than one pronoun if you’re not sure if it’s a man or a woman. For example, you can say ‘he or she’.
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Take a look at other gendered terms and their gender-neutral versions below:
| Example of gendered terms | Examples of gender-neutral terms |
|---|---|
| Mankind | Humankind |
| Policeman, policewoman | Police |
| Fireman | Firefighter |
| Chairman | Chair, Chairperson |
| Stewardess, Steward | Flight attendant |
| Actor, actress | Actor |
| The common man | The common person |
Dr Tatman explained why it’s important to increase the use of gender-neutral terms.
“It’s important to use gender-neutral terms whenever you are referring to something that includes both men and women or could be done by either a man or a woman because it is the most accurate description of reality."
Dr Niner said people should get creative and use come up with their own gender-free terms to effect positive change while Dr Tatman’s tip is to be accurate in language use.
“Police officer is more accurate than policeman when the officer is a woman, for example.
“When speaking of a child’s new teacher, for example, you might say, “I wonder what they will be like?” This is in keeping with the fact that the new teacher could be a man or a woman," Dr Tatman said.
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