How to avoid Sexist Language

In the past, people always wrote of "he" and "mankind" and "policemen." Times have changed. These words are offensive to many people and therefore unacceptable. Sometimes, though, it's hard to know which words to use instead. Here are some rules and examples.

Guidelines

Communication
Planning to Write
Proofreading

Guidelines for Gender-Free Writing
More information and lots of examples.

Guidelines

1.
Don't say postman, but don't say postwoman, either. Each is sexist. Try to leave out genders entirely, and use letter carrier. Here are some more examples:

Wrong Right

Co-ed Student

Housewife Homemaker

Businessman Business executive

Fireman Fire fighter

Chairman The chair, Head

Salesman Sales representative

Policeman Police Officer

2.
If you absolutely have to use a gender modifier, always use woman or female, never girls (unless they are girls) or ladies.

Example: ~~postgirl~~ ~~postlady~~ ~~postwoman~~.

3. Try to reword sexist sentences like this:
Wrong: Every student should return his books.
Right: All students should return their books or Books should be returned by each student.

4. Refer to men and women in the same way.

Wrong Right

Mr. Brown and Jane Mr. Brown and Ms. Thompson
or Jim and Jane

Jim's a great manager and Sally has lovely green eyes Jim's a great manager and Sally's a top-notch construction worker
or Jim has wavy brown hair and Sally has lovely green eyes.

5. Try not to use Mrs. Or Miss a lot, it's best not to mention marital status. If you absolutely have to, use Ms. or find out what the woman prefers.

6. Instead of using he or him use

one
you
he or she
hers or his
him or her
etc.

7. When giving examples, alternate male-female (Some people even alternate the gender of God. You don't have to go that far though...)

Sources
Click here for a list of sources used in this project.
Glossary
All the words in bold are found in the Glossary. If you don't understand a word, click on the beside it, to go directly to the Glossary Page.
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