Leaders: Mind Your (Sexist) Language
Language is powerful. Words matter. They reflect our thinking and our biases. And women are not “guys”, Anne Doyle reminds us and Obama. She’s tired of hearing it’s gender-neutral.
What’s the Latest Development?
Anne Doyle writes of the “cultural headwinds that women are still up against”. They range from the need to “spin” Hillary’s body language, photo-shopping her out of of history and crediting only “the guys” for the complex, clandestine operation that closed the Osama Bin Laden chapter.
What’s the Big Idea?
“Here’s my test with language. Put the shoe on the other gender’s foot. What if we just start using the word ‘gals’ instead of guys every time we are talking about or to a mixed gender group? How long would men tolerate that? They would be insulted and wouldn’t accept for a minute the explanation that ‘gals’ is now a gender neutral word that includes them. “
