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While this essay is not a policy or guideline itself, it is intended to supplement Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Gender-neutral language. Please update the page as needed, or discuss it on the talk page. |
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It has been suggested that the section Gender neutrality from the page Use modern language be merged into this page or section. (Discuss) |
Gender-neutral language avoids constructions that might be interpreted by some readers as an unnecessary reinforcement of traditional stereotypes. Gender-neutral language does not inherently convey a particular viewpoint, political agenda or ideal. Examples of non-neutral language that can easily be avoided are:
- A male or female pronoun to refer to a generic or hypothetical person
- Man to stand for both genders in general, either as a separate item (man’s journey into the unknown) or a suffix (fireman)
- Uncommon gender-marked terms (conductress, career woman, male nurse, aviatrix), with the possible implication that the participation of the subject's gender is uncommon, unexpected or somehow inappropriate
- Non-parallel expressions (man and wife rather than "husband and wife"). (Note that either of these expressions should be avoided in contexts where homosexual matrimonies might be included). Another example of lack of parallelism would be the use, in the same article, of first names for women and last names for men, unless the people involved have a documented preference in this regard.
The Manual of Style guidelines on gender-neutral language state, "Please consider using gender-neutral language where it can be done without loss of neatness and precision." This recommendation does not apply to direct quotations, the titles of works (A Man on the Moon), or cases where all referents are of one gender, such as in an all-female school (“If any student broke that rule, she was severely punished”).
Pronouns
There are a number of ways of avoiding the use of generic male and female pronouns; the following are examples.
- Pluralizing (not “A player starts by taking up his position”, but “Players start by taking up their positions”), although this can be problematic where the text needs to emphasize individuals, or where it creates a need to switch regularly between singular and plural.
- Using he or she (“Each politician is responsible for his or her constituency”), although this can be ungainly if repeated within a short space.
- Otherwise rewording (not “A pilot must keep his spacepod under control at all times; if he loses control, he must hit ‘new game’ immediately”, but “A pilot must keep the spacepod under control at all times; if that control is lost, the pilot must hit ‘new game’ immediately”).
- Using the singular they (“Each politician is responsible for their constituency”). The grammatical validity of this is frequently disputed, although it is widely used in informal writing and speech.
Note that some methods of avoiding generic male pronouns, such as the use of the pronouns "one" or (especially) "you", are seen as unencyclopedic and thus discouraged in Wikipedia articles.
Gendered nouns and adjectives
Non-neutral usage can sometimes be avoided by careful word choice; for example, by using people or humanity (instead of man), layperson (layman), police officer (policeman), business owners (businessmen); in these cases, ensure that the basic meaning is preserved. Where the gender is known, gender-specific items are also appropriate ("Bill Gates is a businessman" or "Nancy Pelosi is a congresswoman").
