Are You Excluding Women?
Language is a powerful tool in our leadership toolkit. It shapes our thoughts and behaviors, and forms stereotypes. How are you using your language to drive inclusion?
March 8 is celebrated as International Women’s Day. It’s a period when the world takes time to recognize the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. This occasion is an excellent opportunity for leaders to examine one systemic way we exclude women. That’s through our language. Inclusive language is essential for building an environment where everyone feels respected and valued. Are you unconsciously excluding women through your choice of words?
Recently while driving, my wife and I approached a construction zone. A caution sign alerted us about road workers. It read, “MEN AT WORK”. My wife jokingly blurted out, “I guess no women are working on the road today!” We laughed because soon after that, we saw a few women at work with their hard hats. Can you imagine if the construction sign had read “Women at Work”?
I discussed inclusive leadership in a previous post. Inclusive communication is a significant aspect of inclusive leadership. Particularly, it’s important that we pay attention to our choice of words and make a conscious effort to ensure that both genders are included when appropriate. This is sometimes referred to as gender-neutral language.
Gender-neutral language is the intentional use of words and phrases that include everyone without excluding or marginalizing any one gender.
The Importance of Inclusive Language
Inclusive language demonstrates respect for everyone. Here are a few other reasons why this is important.
- It allows both genders to feel included. Women is the gender that is most often inadvertently left out.
- It promotes gender equality. We still live in a world where women are fighting for equal rights, including pay.
- It helps combat bias by reducing gender stereotyping and discrimination. Sadly, many people still have default assumptions about gender roles based on certain professions. For example, it is often assumed that a secretary is a woman, while a CEO is a man.
Valuing gender diversity means recognizing the benefits of inclusivity and communicating in a way that does not exclude anyone by default.
I’d like to share an observation and see if you agree: sometimes, our conversation unintentionally reinforce stereotypes against women through the words we choose. This happens because we often use male-centric words that refer to both men and women. This can unconsciously bias our thoughts about gender.
Here is a list of male-centric words I generated just thinking about this topic.
- Man-eating. Another living animal that eats humans. (Maybe they don’t eat women!)
- Manhandle. Handling a heavy object that requires great effort.
- Manhole. Access to below ground such as a sewer.
- Manhunt. An organized search for someone.
- Man-made. Made or caused by humans. Yup. This includes women!
- Manned. Staffed or a crew operating something (manned mission to Mars).
- Manpower. The number of people required for a job.
- Man up! To demonstrate courage.
- Manway. Access to a confined space such as a storage tank.
- Fellowman. Refers to another human being other than yourself.
- Foreman. A worker who supervises others. By the way, Forewoman is in the dictionary. I checked.
- Freshman. First-year student of an institution.
- Workman. A person (usually male) employed to do manual labor. Have you ever heard the word “workwoman”? Well, it’s also in the dictionary.
- Workmanship. How good a job is done with a particular skill.
While there are female gendered terms to some from my list above, such as forewoman, I don’t instinctively use this when walking up to a job site to ask for the supervisor. Do you? Without conducting a poll, I can confidently predict that if we use these terms (foreman and forewoman), the question will almost always be, “Who’s the foreman here?” not, “Who’s the forewoman here?”
Increasing Our Respect for Women
Inclusive leaders consciously choose to be inclusive in their actions and language. They are sensitive to their choice of words by promoting gender-inclusive language. That’s because word choices can reflect wrongful notions about a group, in this case, women. It also influences attitudes and expectations.
Here are a few paths to increasing our respect for women through our communication.
Use inclusive words or terms. These are terms and words used to avoid stereotypes. It applies to everyone.
- For example, when addressing a group, instead of “guys”, use “folks,” “team,” or even “you all.”
- When referring to others, use words such as “individuals,” “people,” and “others,”
Use masculine and feminine forms (he/she) together. It’s perfectly OK to use the pronouns he/she; especially in writing. It can get clunky in speech, though.
Eliminate the need for genders by restructuring the sentence. Instead of saying he/she, use the person’s name, their title, or simply say “the individual.” Alternatively, you can change the sentence around. So, instead of “Men at Work,” a better alternative could be “Workers Ahead.”
Use gender-neutral terms. In some cases, there are common gender-neutral alternatives we can use – if we are conscious about it. Here are a few examples.
- Mail Carrier instead of Postman/Mailman.
- Police Officer in the place of Policeman.
- Firefighter replaces Fireman.
- Chairperson instead of Chairman.
- Layperson in the place of Layman.
- Humankind replaces Mankind.
- Security Guard in the place of Security Man.
- Artificial is a better option to Man-made.
- Average Person replaces the words, Common Man.
- Owner in the place of Landlord.
Words matter. That’s why inclusive leaders pay close attention to their choice of words.
It’s crucial that we acknowledge and respect the diversity of our teams, and ensure every member feel valued for who they are and their capabilities. We can achieve this by using language that does not marginalize women or anyone else.
Empowered Leader Reflection
How deliberate are you in ensuring your language includes everyone?
If this resonated with you, would your share your thoughts with us below?
Photo Credit; Pexels.com
