Re: gender bias in language

JOHN LANGDON (LANGDON@GANDLF.UINDY.EDU)
Fri, 7 Apr 1995 09:30:41 -0400

In message Faybienne Geenhuizen writes:

> It may also be that the women in this course find themselves outnumbered
> by the men and under the authority of a male professor, and decide it is
> more prudent under the circumstances to just "go with the flow".
> The indignity of having to refer to oneself (female) as "man" is not
> sufficient to warrant annoying one's professor, who may have indicated
> (here, and perhaps subtly in his class) that he might be offended by it.

I can assure you this is not the case. There is no "flow." Female students are
in the majority at this school and in nearly all classes, including those in the
sciences, and specifically mine. I generally 'correct' gendered usage in their
exams and papers without drawing any further attention to it. It is very obvious
to me that the "man" and "mankind" means, for them, the entire species.

The important point is that there is a large segment of the community of both
sexes that does not relate to the concerns expressed about gendered language. To
put it more baldly, they are simply not as hung up on the ideas of exclusion and
indignity as are some of the individuals posting on this list, and they are
certainly not hung up on fears of offending the professor.

While it is appropriate for us as teachers and persons of influence to be
sensitive to the issue and to set examples for our students by using
gender-neutral language, it is totally inappropriate for us to be offended by
those who use the older terms with their older meanings. It is inexcusable for
open-minded academics who are making a point of being inclusive and sensitive to
apply or impute labels of bigotry and sexism to other individuals solely on the
basis of their using a vocabulary that was universally and cross-culturally
standard until recently and remains so except within certain segments of our
own.

Out of curiousity, are there equal concerns in Europe about "Mensch" and
"l'homme"? I have not seen any change in usage within European literature.


JOHN H. LANGDON email LANGDON@GANDLF.UINDY.EDU
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY FAX (317) 788-3569
UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS PHONE (317) 788-3447
INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46227