The chapter “Identity terms” in Introduction to Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies, explains many critical identity terms used in the United States society. This chapter does a great job of explaining the different definitions and ways to approach identity, though I would recommend that you do further research to understand the history of these terms. When talking about race we learn that the term, people of color, is used to refer to anyone nonwhite, and the term, black, is used to refer to people who descend from Africa or are African American. When talking to, or about people who are disabled, always state a person first phrasing, unless told otherwise by the person themselves. This is because a disability does not define you. It additionally talks about ethnicity, gender, and sexuality but I will send you the link to this article because it does a great job in synthesizing these terms.
Feminist Philosophy of Language, gives us a look at “gendered language”. This research first addresses the false perception that there is gender neutrality within the English language. Many people refer to this neutrality by using the word “man” to refer to an individual (regardless of their sex). For example, a very famous phrase is, “the creation of man”, using this phrase assumes you are referring to both females and males. Additionally, many laws in the U.S also use the word “man” to refer to both male and female, but we learn that this creates confusion and has bad repercussions. This gender “neutral” language is put at test when we refer to females using the word “man”, what we get is, “man breastfeeds his young”. Feminist point to this and provide an argument saying the English language needs to be reformed. Acknowledging the problem of gendered language in English can help us begin to understand it’s repercussions, which is what this analytical paper aims to do.
Feminist scholars have studied the invisibility of women that has been created through the lack of a gender-neutral word. For example, some refer to women in men dominated jobs as “miss”, instead of “professor”, or “lady doctor”, instead of “doctor”, which emphasizes their gender in a situation of no need. Though some women may feel proud to have their gender be emphasized to reclaim their power, others suggest that this type of phrasing assumes women are just filling up men’s jobs. This can lead to false perceptions that are strengthened by people when they hear “miss”, this is because the word miss can weaken someone’s power in a workplace due to the false perception that women’s jobs are less than.
Another problem stated due to the lack of a gender-neutral word is the inevitable sex marking. To emphasize what I previously explained, sex marking is inevitable when describing the action of an individual. I personally had this challenge when I wasn’t educated enough. I would try to include everyone by saying “he/she” but I was told it was wrong with no explanation, hopefully this helps you understand why it is not the best term to use. Sex marking opens a path for sexism, according to Frye, this perpetuates male dominance because by saying “he” or “she” you are stating a sex difference. Which I see is true, for example asking if a professor is a he or she because you can’t tell by their name, might assume your male or woman preference, and a question like, “why do you care” might arise.
In conclusion, you can see how although subtle, the English language is male dominated and better customized for men. Many feminist scholars are trying to bring attention to this because women’s voices are being hidden or disadvantaged because of it. An example of a successful reformation has been using “they”, “them”, and “their” to neutralize gendered language. And though there is an ongoing discussion on what it means to be a woman, we do know that gender is a binary…I am currently trying to understand this my friend, so I will get back to you on that. I used to think I saw all genders as equal, until I realized that I did not want to let go of this binary gender because I felt I was proud to be a woman (this thinking of mine insinuated I thought of women as more powerful). Therefore, by recognizing men’s capability to have challenging experiences just like me led me to better understand my thinking. Now that I know gender is a binary, and I accept it, and acknowledge, my question is, wouldn’t feminist scholars advocate and support for a nonbinary gender? Because even though women have been disadvantaged for centuries, wouldn’t the study through the same lens (advocating for women) just reinforce gender as a binary?
