Language and gender.

A. Gender awareness and vocabulary

A number of vocabulary changes are being introduced as a result of the feminist movement and heightened awareness of the sexist nature of some English vocabulary. Attention has been focused on the replacement of “male” words with a generic meaning by neutral items – chairman, for example, becoming chair or chairperson or salesman becoming sales assistant. In certain cases, such as job descriptions, use of sexually neutral language has become a legal requirement.

Here are some examples of non-sexist variations of vocabulary:

older usage	current usage
spokesman	spokesperson
fireman	firefighter
male nurse	nurse
to man	to stuff
man-hours	working hours
air hostess	flight attendant
cleaning lady	cleaner
foreman	supervisor
manpower	human resources
mankind	human race

B. Words relating to gender

words	meaning	example
male, female	used for gender classification in biology	male and female bees
masculine, feminine	having qualities felt to be typically male and female	masculine pride, feminine charm
manly, womanly	having positive qualities felt to be typically male or female	manly strength, womanly grace
virile	manly (usually used in a sexual context)	handsome and virile men
effeminate	resembling a woman (used of men, negative)	his effeminate walk
mannish	resembling a man (used of women, negative)	her mannish haircut

C. A modern editor would probably after these sentences. How would this be done?

1. Three firemen helped put out a fire at a disused warehouse last night.

2. A spokesman for the Department of Education provided us with a statement.

3. Cleaning lady wanted for house in Priory Street.

4. The switchboard is continuously manned even during holiday periods.

5. All our air hostesses are fluent in at least three languages.

6. Miss Jones is in charge of the Manpower Department of the company.

7. Policemen today spend more time in cars than on the beat.

8. Brenda’s husband is a male nurse.

9. It took a great many man-hours to clean up the stadium after the concert.

10. This was a great step for mankind.

11. The man in the street has little time for such issues.

12. They manhandled the hostage into the van.

D. Circle the best of the underlined words to complete each sentence.

1. That suit makes her look rather mannish/manly.

2. Younger men are said to be more male/virile than older ones.

3. She always dresses in a very feminine/effeminate way. You never see her in trousers.

4. The masculine/male cat is less aggressive than his sister.

Write about it.

Work in pairs. One of you is a bored housewife with a working husband and two small children. You are treated like an unpaid servant. You’d like to have your own career. Write a letter to the problem page of a magazine. Talk about your life and ask for advice. Another person is an agony aunt whose task is to write an answer article.

Talk about it.

Think about women who have successful careers. Choose one – it could be a member of your family, a friend, or a famous woman you know about. Tell your group about her. Has she succeeded in a man’s world? Does she also look after a family? What about particular problems she might have in her career?

Listen about it

#1. Listen to the message that enumerates all the reasons that block women’s rise to the top and comment on them.

#2. Listen to Sandra Herzog who ponders over the roots of sexism and discuss the most controversial issues.