Read the following examples.
Everybody should do his duty here.
I saw a writer who once burnt one of his books only because it didn’t sell good.
Give the player this christmas t-shirts for couples when he wants it.
In the above sentences, the words “everybody”, “writer”, and “player” can refer both to a male and to a female person. As far as sentences like the above are concerned, it’s clear that the speaker of those sentences talks of all- of men and women. Yet the pronouns that follow (his, he) restrict the reference only to the male sex. Then, there is a communication gap. For example, when you say “Everybody should do his duty,” then, if they all are obedient and dutiful, each of them will do his duty- except the women, if any. And why should they? You have used the masculine pronoun “his.” As a result, the women may think they are excluded. And if they neglect your instruction, you can’t blame any of them; all you can do is just blame the English grammar.
· Reword the sentence if possible.
Examples:
Sexist: If any student pays Tk. 500, he is given a ticket.
Nonsexist: Any student who pays Tk. 500 is given a ticket.
Sexist: When a player breaks the law, he should be under trial.
Nonsexist: A player who breaks the law should be under trial.
Sexist: If a customer does not get good service, he may not come again for service.
Nonsexist: A customer who does not get good service may not come again for service.
· Make the pronoun reference plural if it doesn’t change the meaning of the original sentence.
Examples:
Sexist: We give a customer what he deserves.
Nonsexist: We give customers what they deserve.
Sexist: No officer shall leave his office before five.
Nonsexist: Officers shall not leave their offices before five.
Sexist: If a reader doesn’t find the beginning of an article attractive, he is likely to throw away the article.
Nonsexist: If readers don’t find the beginning of an article attractive, they are likely to throw away the article.
· Use the neutral pronouns where necessary.
Examples.
Sexist: If any player gets hurt, take him to the nearest hospital.
Nonsexist: If any player gets hurt, take him or her to the nearest hospital.
Sexist: If a reader doesn’t find the beginning of an article attractive, he is likely to throw away the article.
Nonsexist: If a reader doesn’t find the beginning of an article attractive, s/he is likely to throw away the article.
Sexist: If anybody is wrong in something, he should admit it.
Nonsexist: If one is wrong in something, one should admit it.
In this regard it should be remembered that the frequent use of “he or she” or “s/he” looks and sounds very awkward. So, care should be taken in their use. For example, sentences like the following one should be avoided:
If any customer wants to return the goods he/she bought from our shop, tell him/her that we will take it; but we will not give him/her the money back.
To avoid male dominance, the modern usage requires you to avoid words ending with “man” such as chairman, postman, milkman, salesman, cameraman etc. Though a female person has no objection to her being a woman, she’s likely to be offended if such words are used to refer to both sexes in general. These words are now avoided in several ways instead of, for example, saying, “Mrs. Khan was the chairman of the meeting,” we can say, “Mrs. Khan was the chaired the meeting”, or “Mrs. Khan was the chairperson/moderator/presiding officer of the meeting”, or “Mrs. Khan was the presided over the meeting.” The following list shows some alternatives to some objectionable sexist words.
Sexist
Nonsexist
Businessman
Businessperson, Business executive
Cameraman
Camera operator
Congressman
Representative, member of congress
Fireman
Firefighter
Mailman
Mail carrier, Letter carrier.
Man made
Human-made. Of human origin, manufactured
Manpower
Workers, personnel, employees, human resource
Policeman
Police officer
Salesman
Salesperson, sales representative
Notice that even though manmade is offensive, human-made is not. And even though manpower is offensive, human resource is not. Again though a female employee is a woman, she’s not part of manpower; rather, she’s part of human resource.
It’s harder to follow than to remember, isn’t it? Some people say it is. A friend of mine named Kashfia Tabassum Nila made some slant remarks in this regard. “it seems sort of contradictory and ironical to me”, she said, “because, I’ve objection not only to being a ‘MAN-‘ in words, but also to being feminine in words like authoress, poetess, lady doctor, sculptress or the like. I’m also an author, poet, lawyer, sculptor, or doctor, lie you. I don’t like the ‘-ess’ portion of such sexist words”. So, it would be better to refer both to women and men in these professions by the same words. Fair and unbiased words are always better.
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