Gendered Words

February 6, 2022

Written by: Megan Moran

Gendered words are all around us. We all use them from time to time, probably without realizing it. Male-focused gendered words, often used everyday, exclude our non-binary friends, and these words also exclude women. Gendered language can cause these groups feelings of hurt and low confidence. For example: postman, policeman, fireman, congressmen, freshman, salesman, mankind, snowman, and more. You might notice that a lot of those words are careers: careers that have been male-dominated industries for years. Many women and non-binary people work in those jobs or fall under the categories these words describe. In an effort to be more inclusive, we should refrain from using gendered words and change our language. Instead of saying policeman, fireman, or salesman, we should use inclusive language and say police officer, firefighter, and salesperson.

Not gendering nouns is a first small step in the process to stop using gendered language. Society has a tendency to refer to people in general, people you don’t know, as ‘he, him, his.’ Referring to those you don’t know as ‘they, them’ or just asking for someone’s pronouns is another simple way to make society a more inclusive place. Recognizing gendered words and asking for people’s pronouns are low effort ways to implement genderless, inclusive language in our lives.