User:Cdowney44/Feminist language reform

Gendered pronouns and meaning -

The 1970s feminist movement led to the title Ms becoming more widely used. Previously, Miss and Mrs were used in order to indicate a woman's marital status. However, the title Mr does not imply marital status, so feminists saw it necessary to find a parallel term.

Some groups have made an effort to advocate for the change from male nouns such as chairman and spokesman to gender non-specific nouns such as chairperson and spokesperson. However, critics question the efficacy of this approach as they argue that the gender non-specific nouns are only used in reference to a woman, and men are still referred to by male specific nouns.

In 1990, two important Toronto based newspapers, the Globe and Mail and the Star modified their policies on sexist language policy in an effort to stop the usage of man as a general term. Additionally, the goal was to move away from any male nouns in these papers.

With adding language non-sexist language, some writers contend that this will only be effective in groups that already are devoted to non-sexist behavior. Contrarily, the non-sexist language will struggle to succeed if the speakers are not dedicated to the change.

Efforts to shift towards non-sexist language was supported by an important publisher in 1973 as part of a slow shift away from male-centric noun usage.

Power and language -

Some women's accounts suggest they are alienated from language or that they are not the owners of their words. In order to reclaim the power of language, some theorists argue that feminist language must be integrated. Gloria Steinem said "We have terms like "sexual harassment" and "battered women." A few years ago, they were just called "life"", and theorists such as Crawford and Fox assert that this is essential in shifting gendered power dynamics.

Relating to LGBT linguistics, the idea that the linguistic distinction between sex and gender changes our perception of identities is common among feminist linguistic theorists. When 'sex', referring to biological sex, is used, as opposed to 'gender', which refers to masculinity and femininity, as a marker of identity, feminist theorist Rhoda Unger suggests that gendered differences become naturalized, which is harmful for women.

Theory -

Linguistic theory, or the way people understand language, also influences the way linguistics plays into gender power structures. The structuralist approach to linguistic theory is based off of the belief that language should be studied only looking within language instead of the ways it is influenced by external forces. The 'cognitivist' approach focuses on the connection from language to the brain, and the 'sociocultural' approach highlights the role that culture and social context plays in language. One's own interpretation of linguistic theory may change their assumptions on how best to change sexist language.

French

Many french occupational nouns have historically only had a masculine default form, excluding women. When these masculine words are modified to refer to a woman, a suffix is adding, suggesting that a woman is secondary in these roles to her male counterpart. One way to combat this exclusionary grammar was to use a masculine form in reference to a man and a feminine form in reference to a woman in order to make women visible. Other frequently used methods to clarify that the job was also hiring women include having the masculine form of the noun as the role, followed by H/F, or homme/femme (man/woman) and having the masculine form listed with the feminine form in parentheses. Due to the fact that there are gendered distinctions in French nouns, employers must be clear in their effort to make women visible.