Tips for Writing and Speaking
Adapted from Random House references—“Sensitive Language”
“PC” or “political correctness” has been much talked about the last few years. Political correctness is ridding one’s speech and writing of terms that may offend others (calling someone fat, or moronic, or using an ethnic slur) and substituting terms. Now, some advocates of political correctness carry things a bit far. If someone is bald, they are bald, not “follicly challenged”! A short person is short—“vertically challenged” is plain silly. Other adjectives or terms are insulting however, and should be avoided.
There is an old saying: “Sticks and stones might break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Anyone who has been called hateful names or described in a hurtful way knows that words CAN hurt though. Sometimes what we say shows an attitude that we should not be showing to the world. Words have more power to cause trouble than we realize. So as you begin to recognize possible hurtful terms in language, how can you avoid using them?
Here are some examples and suggestions to rid your vocabulary of “non-PC” words and phrases:
1. Sexism in language is joked about occasionally, but in many cases it can and should be avoided. It is not only hurtful, but disrespectful. We are so used to sexist language in everyday speech and writing, that we sometimes don’t even notice it. Because of this, it can be a difficult thing to correct. In English for instance, the terms “man, he, his” are often used to refer to the whole of humanity—male and female.
Instead of: Use:
mankind, man human beings, humans, humankind, humanity, people,
society, men and women
man-made synthetic, artificial
2. Another common practice is to describe women by appearance (“A lovely blonde, Judge Helen Ottley, presided over the hearing.”), while describing men in other ways (“Judge Jerome Eversol, award-winning editor of the California Law Review, presided over the hearing.”) It is subtle, but see how the woman is made to seem less smart or able than the man? Her only claim to importance seems to be that she is a lovely blonde. No one thinks that sentence is strange. Consider however if things were turned around:
Jack Jones, long-time semi truck driver, and his partner, petite Veronica Cuddles witnessed the accident late last night. (Veronica is not only described as petite, but is “his” partner. The man is mentioned first). The following are non-sexist ways to give the same information:
3. Occupations, careers, and positions many times automatically indicate that the holder is male. In reality, women do many, if not all of the jobs that men do, and the language should reflect that. Whenever you run across a word containing “man, or men”, stop and think if another word would do just as well.
Instead of: Use:
anchorman anchor, news anchor
businessman businessperson, executive, manager, business owner, retailer,
chairman chair, chairperson
cleaning lady, maid housecleaner, housekeeper, cleaner, office cleaner
clergyman/men member of the clergy, rabbi, priest, etc
fireman firefighter
forefather ancestor
housewife homemaker
insurance man insurance agent
mailman/postman mail or letter carrier
policeman police officer or law enforcement officer
salesman/woman/lady/girl salesperson, sales representative, sales associate, clerk
spokesman spokesperson, representative
stewardess/steward flight attendant
weatherman/girl weather reporter, weathercaster, meteorologist
workman worker
Some people also feel that “actor” and “author” should be instead of “actress “ and “authoress”. This makes sense. We wouldn’t say “doctoress” or “lawyeress”. The fact is, the role or job isn’t defined by the sex of the person who hold it.
4. Using “he or his” automatically in a sentence is also discouraged because it seems to leave out women. Using the “he/she, his/her” combinations is awkward. Try to avoid it when you can.
5. Use parallel terms when speaking of both sexes.
Perky brain surgeon Angela Davis and her date, famous physicist Albert Einstein, arrived at the premiere early. (A perky brain surgeon??? She deserves the same respect as he gets.)
man and wife husband and wife
men and ladies men and women OR ladies and gentlemen
Dear Sir: Dear Sir/Madam: Dear Madam or Sir: To whom it may concern: Dear Mr. (Ms.) ___(use the name)__________
Words used to describe another’s race or ethnic group can be both offensive and inaccurate. Unfortunately, human beings have developed some of their cruelest terms when speaking of those of a different cultural or racial background. This is true in every language I suspect. I am not going to give examples of the worst of these terms, but here are some:
Instead of this: Use this:
Spanish-speaking people in the United States Hispanic, (also Latino, Mexican American, Cuban American, etc. )
Negro, colored, Afro-American black, African-American
Oriental, Asiatic Asian or more specific designation such as Pacific
Islander, Chinese American, Korean
Indian “Indians” are those who are from India. If you
are speaking of the American Indian, say that or
Native American, or Navahos, Zunis, Cherokees, etc.
Eskimo Inuit, Alaska Natives
Age is just a number, so the saying goes. Don’t stereotype people by referring to them with words that make them seem decrepit or useless. In fact, unless the age of the person is important to what you are saying—don’t even mention it). Don’t use decrepit, senile, elderly, aged, old, geriatric, the elderly, the aged. If you must refer to another’s age, use these words: older person, senior citizen(s), seniors.
In the last several decades, the word “homosexual’ has been almost entirely replaced by “gay” for men and “lesbian” for women. There are as many, maybe more, derogatory and hateful terms for homosexuals as there are for those of a different race or country. Don’t use them. Unless absolutely needed to clarify what you are saying, one’s sexual preference is no more relevant than their color, age, religion, nationality or gender.
Focus on the person, not the disability. A handicap is some barrier that affects the person—it isn’t the person. With some people, using the terms ( really euphemisms) “challenged, differently-abled, and special” are used, but they are not anymore accurate than the old terms such as cripple, idiot, and handicapped.” Using the words “crazy, imbecilic, moronic” are sometimes used in casual settings or in a joking way, but they should NOT be used to label those who may suffer mental illness.
Instead of this Use this
Mongoloid person with Down syndrome
wheelchair-bound person who uses a wheelchair
AIDS sufferer/victim, person afflicted with AIDS person living with AIDS, HIV+, (one
who tests positive for HIV but does not show
symptoms of AIDS)
polio victim has/had polio
the handicapped, the disabled, cripple persons with disabilities or person who uses
crutches (or whatever specific description)
deaf-mute, deaf and dumb deaf person
Interestingly, the blind prefer to be called “blind”, not “visually impaired”!
We have already talked about referring to age, sex, religion, race, etc. Here are some more terms that can be seen as belittling or insulting.
Instead of this: Use this:
girl(s) (when referring to an adult ), the fair sex Woman/women
sweetie, dear, dearie, honey NOT appropriate in public or with strangers. (Doesn’t it drive
you mad when a stranger calls you “hun”?)
old maid, bachelorette, spinster single or divorced woman
the little woman, old lady, ball and chain wife
boy (when referring to or addressing an adult man) man, sir
This is especially insulting to a black man, since it was a
common form of address to male slaves.
Emphasizing Differences (when there is no need)
It can’t be stressed enough--references to age, sex, religion, race, etc., should be avoided unless they are absolutely necessary!
Instead of this: Use this:
doctors/lawyers/ police officers/ etc. and their wives doctors, etc. and their spouses
(The doctors, etc. could all be women!)
a secretary and her boss a secretary and boss
(Who says the secretary is always female?)
the male teacher/lawyer/judge/ etc. the teacher/lawyer, etc.
(These professions are not limited to men!)
Vietnamese men arrested for fighting men arrested for fighting
(Does it matter what their nationality is? Probably not.)
the talented female engineer the talented engineer
(It sounds as though it is a big surprise
that a woman could be a talented engineer)
Mary Shelly was a noted 19th century female writer. Mary Shelly was a noted 19th century writer.
(Unless you are comparing her only to other
female writers, you don’t need to add that she was female.)
Christian name given name, personal name, first name
(Christians aren’t the only ones with first names!)
Instead of: Lilly Johnson, the black woman astronaut, met with top NASA officials to day.
Use this: Astronaut Lilly Johnson met with top NASA officials to day. (She wasn’t meeting with NASA because she was black, or a female, so why mention it?)
English, as well as other languages, has many terms that have been (and are still sadly) used as slang and idioms that can be considered offensive. Some are very offensive and some are less offensive (but still insulting). There is never a good enough reason to use these in your speech or writing, unless you are writing a work of fiction, and use them to create a specific obnoxious character. Examples are: gyp, honky, dame, squaw, redskin, darkie, cracker, queer, nerd, Holy Roller, chick, Okie, fag, spaz, Chink, bimbo—the list goes on and on.