sam@phs.UUCP (08/10/83)
Laura Creighton claims that attempts to replace sexist pronouns, job
titles, phrases, and expressions with nonsexist equivalents are
*corrupting* the English language. If increasing the precision of language
by insisting people say (write) exactly what they mean is corruption,
then I welcome it. Nonsexist language forces most of us to THINK about
what we're trying to say. Use *fireman* if you mean a male who fights
fires. Use *firefighter* when referring to people of unspecified sex who
fight fires. How about *firewoman* for female fire fighters?
I have become painfully aware of the ambiguity present in the use of
*man* as the generic for *humans*. Authors of review articles on, for
example, testosterone production, will refer to testosterone production
in *man* without indicating whether they mean male humans, female humans,
or an average of testosterone production by both sexes. This is an extreme
example, but it serves to illustrate my point. Nonsexist language is more
precise, and can serve to eliminate many *clumsy representations of
thoughts.*.
I am confused by Ms. Creighton's request *Prove ... that genderless
communication reinforces biased thinking.* Quite the contrary, nonsexist
language is a deliberate attempt to reduce or eliminate sexual bias. And
it seems to work. A psychologist at the University of Ohio asked groups of
students ranging from 1st graders to college students to make up stories
based on a cue sentence. When the sentence used *his* (in a context where
*his* could mean *his or her*) 12 percent of the stories were about
females. When the cue contained *their*, 18 percent of the stories
were about females, and when the cue contained *his or her*, 42 percent of
the stories were about females. The elementary school children were more
likely to interpret *his* as masculine than were the college students.
Biased thinking begins early.
Language changes as usage changes, and usage changes as the attitudes
of people change. Sexist language is offensive to increasing numbers of
people. Those who care enough not to offend others will be those
who change their use of gender specific language .
Sherry Marts