Writing about Sex or Gender

equity tip

From the style guide by Virginia Hayssen, Teri Orr for a 2020 SICB symposium

Some phrasing seems innocuous until it is repeated multiple times. For instance, in the SICB abstract booklet the phrase 'male and female' appears 47 times but the equivalent phrase 'female and male' appears only 6 times, 4 of which were in the same abstract. Thus, the abstract booklet prioritizes males 7 times more than females. Using plurals is worse: SICB abstracts: 30 ‘males and females’ vs 3 ‘females and males’. How do you write a style guide for that kind of nuanced bias? Figures also show that kind of bias in which male information is presented to the left or on top and female info given second. Females are second.
Or search google images for 'meiosis'. Last time I did, all that appeared was meiosis in isogametic (i.e. male) individuals. You have to google 'female meiosis' to view the process in females. If you search google-images for spermatogenesis you get what you expect: a diagram of spermatogenesis. But, google oogenesis and many of the resultant figures include spermatogenesis. Males stand alone, but females are presented in comparison to males. How do we learn to recognize this bias and make appropriate adjustments?
How does one create a style sheet for bias? How can editors, copy editors, assistant editors, associate editors, reviewers, etc. learn to recognize these issues that are problematic in toto, but not necessarily n individual pieces? These are simply rhetorical questions and this style sheet is only a start. But it is a start and, we hope, a necessary one!

Inclusive Language for Reporting Demographic Characteristics

screen grab from the website linked to this image showing a table of 'avoid' and 'preferred' terms to describe demographic characteristics

Follow this link to a table of demographic terms to 'avoid' and to 'prefer'. The table is part of the American Medical Association (AMA) style guide for the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

For more, see source (JAMA style guide for authors)

unnecessarily gendered terms

I’m a woman who works in a male-dominated field. There’s a commonly used phrase that I hate hearing — I’m being ambiguous for anonymity, but think of the terms “male,” “female,” and “hermaphroditic connector” and you’ll be close to what I’m talking about. I don’t want to have to use metaphors for genitals when I’m speaking to a conference room full of men. Alternate terms are available, but most of my colleagues don’t use them. What the hell can I do?

Read the editor's reply, by Letitia Henville, academic editor

Writing about reproductive biology

guidelines developed by the symposium organizers (Virginia Hayssen, Teri Orr) for a 2020 SICB symposium

Gender-bias or value-laden terminology (nouns)

below is a list of historical term (left) and alternative terms (right)

Anatomy

Egg - Ova/Ovum if female gamete
Egg (fertilized egg) - Blastocyst, embryo, conceptus
Egg (chicken) - Shelled egg
Fallopian tube - Oviduct
Graffian follicle - Preovulatory or mature follicle
Bartholin gland - Greater vestibular gland or bulbourethral gland
G-spot (Grafenberg spot) - Erogenous spot
Primordial phallus - Genital tubercle
Female phallus, female penis - Enlarged clitoris
Female prostate/Skene’s gland - Prostate

Physiology

Fertilization (delayed, external, in vitro, assisted, etc.) - Conception (delayed, external, in vitro, assisted, etc.), or gamete fusion
Induced ovulation - Facultative ovulation
Luteal deficit - Short luteal phase
Miscarriage - Gestational loss, pregnancy loss, spontaneous abortion, embryo rejection
Cervical incompetence or insufficiency - Early cervical dilation, cervical funneling

Female Behavior

Attractivity - Solicitation
Receptivity - Facilitation

Phrasing and verbs

Female passive/male active phrasing: Much language makes males the subjects and females the object. Males fertilize females, they inseminate them, they impregnate them. Rewrite to avoid the male active/female passive phrasing. Try making the female the subject of the sentence.
Unequal verbs: Males sire offspring, females mother them? Rephrase to avoid ‘sire’.
Cliché phrasing: ‘males and females’ is the usual phrasing rather than ‘females and males’; try to use both equally. Also: ‘daughters and sons’
Metaphorical, motivational, cultural phrasing: During conception does the ovum engulf a sperm or does a sperm penetrate an ovum? Rather: ovum and sperm fuse.
Does a female exploit the male ejaculate or does the male manipulate the female with his ejaculate. Avoid ‘motivational’ verbs.
Masculinize/feminize: If discussing the effects of testosterone use ‘androgenize’, of estrogen then ‘estrogenize’. Or rephrase to avoid applying human gender (and sex roles) to non-human physiology.
Sperm competition/sperm race: these terms anthropomorphize and masculinize the process of conception and female choice. Rephrase to avoid cultural gestalt.

Writing about the LGBTQ+ community

Advice for journalists is also relevant for scientific writers: GLAAD Media Reference Guide – 11th Edition

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