Information about Gender Neutrality
Gender-neutral language is a description of language usages which are aimed at minimizing assumptions regarding the biological sex of human referents.
The advocacy of gender-neutral language reflects at least two different agenda:
Gender-neutral language is sometimes described as non-sexist language by advocates, and politically-correct language by opponents.
A number of the masculine terms in Modern English come from words which were not gender-specific in Old English. For example, the word mann was originally gender-neutral (though grammatically masculine) and could be used to refer to any adult human. For gender-specific usage, wer was used to mean "man," and wíf to mean "woman." Since then, "man" has replaced wer as the primary word referring to male persons, while also preserving its original gender-neutral meaning (people), especially in compounds such as "mankind." On the other hand, the word "woman" (from wífman, grammatically feminine) replaced wíf as the word for female person. The word "human" is from Latin humanus, the adjectival form of homo "human being" (also grammatically masculine but epicene).
The use of the word man as a truly generic word referring to all humans has been declining:
During the 19th century, attempts to overlay Latin grammar rules onto English required the use of feminine endings in nouns ending with -or. This produced words like doctress and professoress and even lawyeress, all of which have fallen out of use; though waitress, stewardess, and actress are in contemporary use.
Belief in social effects of language was largely a 20th century phenomenon in the English-speaking world, and has been linked to the development of the concept of politically correct language and the principle of linguistic relativity by Benjamin Whorf and others.
Some believe that language as in the example reflects a speaker's belief in, or support of, traditional gender role stereotyping. Gender-neutral language is not concerned with judging the speaker's beliefs; it is only concerned with proscribing forms of language that might be interpreted, by some hearers, as acceptance of traditional stereotypes. It would recommend the following kinds of alternatives.
A business might advertise that it is looking for a new chair or chairperson rather than chairman. Gender-neutral language proscribes chairman, on the grounds that some readers would assume women are implicitly excluded from responding to an advertisement using this word..[2]
For example, gender-neutral language has gained support from major textbook publishers, and from professional and academic groups such as the American Psychological Association and the Associated Press. Newspapers like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal avoid such language. Many law journals, psychology journals, and literature journals do not print articles or papers that use gender-inclusive language.<ref name="UPenn" />
Recent employee policy manuals have begun to include strongly worded statements prescribing avoidance of language that potentially could be considered discriminatory. The wording of this statement from a policy manual is typical: "All documents, publications or presentations developed by all constituencies…shall be written in gender neutral and/or gender inclusive language.[4] Employees are told that they need to be aware of their responsibilities to avoid discriminatory language, and that they are required to implement the enterprise's commitment to treat stakeholders equally and with courtesy. Institutional members are instructed, as a matter of corporate policy, to avoid using language that may even appear to be discriminatory, or that may gratuitously give offense in verbal or written communication. They also provide guidance about how to reflect the concept of valuing diversity in language usage.
In some cases, Gender-neutral language may be achieved through the use of gender-inclusive, gender-neutral or epicene words ("human being," "person," "individual," and so on) instead of gender-specific ones ("man," "woman," "he," "she," "businessman," "mother," etc.), when speaking of people whose gender is unknown, ambiguous, or unimportant. If no gender-inclusive terms exist, new ones may be coined (e.g., "businessperson," "nurturer," "carer", or "laborer"), or there may be parallel usage of the existing gender-specific terms (as in "men and women," "he or she," "he/she," "(s)he," and so on).
Inclusive language follows the principles of gender-neutral language and extends them to other areas of language, such as referring neither to adults nor children when discussing a person whose age cannot otherwise be determined.
Some advocates of gender-neutral language argue that traditional language fails to reflect the presence of women or men in society adequately. This is referred to as "symbolic annihilation." In general, they are concerned about a number of issues:
Advocates point out that language is rich in alternatives that speakers and writers, sensitive to attitudes and beliefs of audiences, can use without impinging on the effectiveness of their communication. They are also able to be true to their notions of grammatical propriety. Further, proponents suggest that insensitive language usage may be an unintended form of discrimination based on a "lack of awareness" which they assert is not justifiable or acceptable.
A deeper variant of these arguments involves the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, the suggestion that our language shapes our thought processes. Then to eliminate sexism, we would do well to eliminate allegedly "sexist" forms from our language. Some people dismiss the effectiveness of such a suggestion, viewing "non-sexist language" as irrelevant window-dressing which merely hides sexist attitudes rather than changing them. The converse hypothesis is that language is an expression of attitude. The implication is that one's language choices shows that person's attitudes.
Some advocates support the enforcement of rules and policies against gender-specific language by institutions including schools, governments and workplaces. Many editing houses, corporations, and government bodies have official policies in favor of in-house use of gender-neutral language. In some cases, laws exist regarding the use of gender-neutral language in certain situations, such as job advertisements. The majority of advocates for gender-neutral language generally prefer persuasion rather than enforcement. One method for such persuasion is creating guidelines that indicate how they believe language should be used, or providing an example through their own use of gender-neutral language.
Some regard gender-neutral language as revisionist, as excessively politically correct, as promoting poor or heavy writing, or simply a cosmetic change that does nothing to actually repel sexism. They may consciously refuse to use forms of speech advocated by promoters of gender-neutral language. Some critics have noted:
Some critics accuse advocates of gender-neutral language-modification of "re-gendering" language, replacing masculine in some cases by feminine terms that are equally sexist. Other critics argue that some phrases used in non-sexist language violate the rules of proper grammar and style.
Some critics claim that phrases like "he or she" are not real English, for they only exist in print, not in speech. In print it is easy for an editor to employ rules of gender-neutral language, but speech is practically impossible to control.
Many linguists see phrases such as "he or she" as a solution to a non-existent problem, arguing that many English speakers happily use the singular "they" without thinking. But many others still insist that it is a grammatical error. The feminist linguists argue that the case for the singular "they" is quite compelling based on the history of the English language. They argue that it has been in continuous use since the Middle Ages, and cite its use by some of the greatest English authors including Shakespeare and Chaucer. The editors of some style guides have been convinced by these arguments, and some guides have begun to accept the singular "they" as grammatically correct, while others continue to reject it.
Critics of the singular "they" argue that while it may sound acceptable in some contexts, in other contexts it would clearly sound absurd: Strunk and White remarked, under the heading They in The Elements of Style: "Some bashful speakers even say, 'A friend of mine told me that they ...'" (See also Singular they#Modern reactions.) "ABC Bakery invites you to taste their pastries" sounds acceptable in part because of the expectation that ABC Bakery is not a one-person shop. "Each candidate must submit their credentials" sounds acceptable because there are implicitly multiple candidates.
Standards advocated by supporters of the gender-neutral modification in English have been applied differently and to differing degrees among English speakers worldwide. This has reflecting differences in cultures and language structure, for example American English in contrast to British English. They are also impacted upon, depending on whether a person uses English as their first language or as a second language, regional variants or whether their form of English is based on grammatical structures inherited from a no longer widely used other language (for example, Hiberno-English) or owes its linguistic structure to earlier Old English or Elizabethan English. In these cases, language structure from their native tongue or linguistic inheritance may enter into their terminology.
A language is a system of symbols and the rules used to manipulate them. Language can also refer to the use of such systems as a general phenomenon.
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The advocacy of gender-neutral language reflects at least two different agenda:
- One aims to clarify the inclusion of both sexes or genders (gender-inclusive language).
- The other proposes that gender, as a category, is rarely worth marking in language (gender-neutral language).
Gender-neutral language is sometimes described as non-sexist language by advocates, and politically-correct language by opponents.
History
Various forms of gender-neutral language became a common feature in written and spoken versions of many languages in the late twentieth century. Many feminists have argued that prior to this time, the practice of assigning masculine gender to generic antecedents was due to every language "[reflecting] the prejudices of the society in which it evolved, and English evolved through most of its history in a male-centered, patriarchal society."[1]A number of the masculine terms in Modern English come from words which were not gender-specific in Old English. For example, the word mann was originally gender-neutral (though grammatically masculine) and could be used to refer to any adult human. For gender-specific usage, wer was used to mean "man," and wíf to mean "woman." Since then, "man" has replaced wer as the primary word referring to male persons, while also preserving its original gender-neutral meaning (people), especially in compounds such as "mankind." On the other hand, the word "woman" (from wífman, grammatically feminine) replaced wíf as the word for female person. The word "human" is from Latin humanus, the adjectival form of homo "human being" (also grammatically masculine but epicene).
The use of the word man as a truly generic word referring to all humans has been declining:
Man…has gradually narrowed in meaning to become a word that refers to adult male human beings. […] By the 18th century, the modern, narrow sense of man was firmly established as the predominant one. When Edmund Burke, writing of the French Revolution, used men in the old, inclusive way, he took pains to spell out his meaning: "Such a deplorable havoc is made in the minds of men (both sexes) in France…." Thomas Jefferson did not make the same distinction in declaring that "all men are created equal" and "governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." In a time when women, having no vote, could neither give nor withhold consent, Jefferson had to be using the word men in its principal sense of "males," and it probably never occurred to him that anyone would think otherwise.<ref name="UPenn" />
During the 19th century, attempts to overlay Latin grammar rules onto English required the use of feminine endings in nouns ending with -or. This produced words like doctress and professoress and even lawyeress, all of which have fallen out of use; though waitress, stewardess, and actress are in contemporary use.
Belief in social effects of language was largely a 20th century phenomenon in the English-speaking world, and has been linked to the development of the concept of politically correct language and the principle of linguistic relativity by Benjamin Whorf and others.
Examples
An example of language that may contain assumptions regarding biological sex of a human referent is:- "Tomorrow I will meet my new doctor; I hope he is friendly."
Some believe that language as in the example reflects a speaker's belief in, or support of, traditional gender role stereotyping. Gender-neutral language is not concerned with judging the speaker's beliefs; it is only concerned with proscribing forms of language that might be interpreted, by some hearers, as acceptance of traditional stereotypes. It would recommend the following kinds of alternatives.
- "Tomorrow I will meet my new doctor, who I hope is friendly."
- "Tomorrow I will meet my new doctor; I hope the doctor is friendly."
- "Tomorrow I will meet my new doctor; I hope he or she is friendly."
- "Tomorrow I will meet my new doctor; I hope they're friendly." (See singular they)
A business might advertise that it is looking for a new chair or chairperson rather than chairman. Gender-neutral language proscribes chairman, on the grounds that some readers would assume women are implicitly excluded from responding to an advertisement using this word..[2]
Motivations
Gender-neutral language is widely prescribed by certain types of businesses and educational institutions. The intention is typically a social or ethical one, such as to promote either diversity and/or opportunity. Some believe that the roles of men and women in society have changed in various ways.[3]For example, gender-neutral language has gained support from major textbook publishers, and from professional and academic groups such as the American Psychological Association and the Associated Press. Newspapers like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal avoid such language. Many law journals, psychology journals, and literature journals do not print articles or papers that use gender-inclusive language.<ref name="UPenn" />
Recent employee policy manuals have begun to include strongly worded statements prescribing avoidance of language that potentially could be considered discriminatory. The wording of this statement from a policy manual is typical: "All documents, publications or presentations developed by all constituencies…shall be written in gender neutral and/or gender inclusive language.[4] Employees are told that they need to be aware of their responsibilities to avoid discriminatory language, and that they are required to implement the enterprise's commitment to treat stakeholders equally and with courtesy. Institutional members are instructed, as a matter of corporate policy, to avoid using language that may even appear to be discriminatory, or that may gratuitously give offense in verbal or written communication. They also provide guidance about how to reflect the concept of valuing diversity in language usage.
Affirmative positions
Promoters of gender-neutral language argue that its motivation is to avoid favoring either gender over the other in contexts where the gender of a person or group of people is ambiguous. The perceived need for inclusive language arises because, according to widely accepted norms of current usage, masculine pronouns no longer communicate a generic sense of "anyone." Indeed, many people find such usage not only inaccurate but offensive.[5]There is a growing awareness that language does not merely reflect the way we think: it also shapes our thinking. If words and expressions that imply that women or men are inferior are constantly used, that assumption of inferiority tends to become part of our mindset…. Language is a powerful tool: poets and propagandists know this — as, indeed, do victims of discrimination.[6]
In some cases, Gender-neutral language may be achieved through the use of gender-inclusive, gender-neutral or epicene words ("human being," "person," "individual," and so on) instead of gender-specific ones ("man," "woman," "he," "she," "businessman," "mother," etc.), when speaking of people whose gender is unknown, ambiguous, or unimportant. If no gender-inclusive terms exist, new ones may be coined (e.g., "businessperson," "nurturer," "carer", or "laborer"), or there may be parallel usage of the existing gender-specific terms (as in "men and women," "he or she," "he/she," "(s)he," and so on).
Inclusive language follows the principles of gender-neutral language and extends them to other areas of language, such as referring neither to adults nor children when discussing a person whose age cannot otherwise be determined.
Some advocates of gender-neutral language argue that traditional language fails to reflect the presence of women or men in society adequately. This is referred to as "symbolic annihilation." In general, they are concerned about a number of issues:
- Use of exclusively gender-specific pronouns like "he" and "she." While English first person pronouns("I"/"we"), second person ("you"), and third person plural ("they") are gender-neutral,[7]
- The use of gendered "man" to refer to all people. (e.g., "mankind.")
- The use of gendered "fem" to refer to all people. (e.g., "feminism is about equality for all")
- The use of "mothering" to refer to nurturing activity of all people.
- The use of gender-specific job titles.
- The use of "Miss" and "Mrs." (see "Ms.")
- Non-parallel usage, such as "man and wife" or "woman's prerogative".
- Stereotypical words such as "virile" and "ladylike."
- Words with stereotypical derivations such as "hysterical", "wimp", or "psychopath".
- It marginalizes women, or men, and creates the impression of and reflects male or female-dominated aspects of society.
- It makes women, or men invisible in language, which, it is claimed, reflects their reality
- It is demeaning, such as when the wording appears to treat men as occupational servants to women, and women as property of marriage, or calling other 'things' owned or operated by a person by male or female adjectives (e.g., that car: "she's" a beauty; the land: "mother-land" or "father-land"; the farm tractor: "He's" a good, tough work-horse, you can't break his back, etc.)
- It can perpetuate inaccurate and biased stereotypes about where men and women are supposed to be [e.g., rubbishman, workman, yard-boy, statesman, congressman, vs. matron, waitress, hostess, governess]
Advocates point out that language is rich in alternatives that speakers and writers, sensitive to attitudes and beliefs of audiences, can use without impinging on the effectiveness of their communication. They are also able to be true to their notions of grammatical propriety. Further, proponents suggest that insensitive language usage may be an unintended form of discrimination based on a "lack of awareness" which they assert is not justifiable or acceptable.
A deeper variant of these arguments involves the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, the suggestion that our language shapes our thought processes. Then to eliminate sexism, we would do well to eliminate allegedly "sexist" forms from our language. Some people dismiss the effectiveness of such a suggestion, viewing "non-sexist language" as irrelevant window-dressing which merely hides sexist attitudes rather than changing them. The converse hypothesis is that language is an expression of attitude. The implication is that one's language choices shows that person's attitudes.
Some advocates support the enforcement of rules and policies against gender-specific language by institutions including schools, governments and workplaces. Many editing houses, corporations, and government bodies have official policies in favor of in-house use of gender-neutral language. In some cases, laws exist regarding the use of gender-neutral language in certain situations, such as job advertisements. The majority of advocates for gender-neutral language generally prefer persuasion rather than enforcement. One method for such persuasion is creating guidelines that indicate how they believe language should be used, or providing an example through their own use of gender-neutral language.
Neutral positions
Many people have no recognition of any potential problem with gender-specific language. Thus, they have no opinion on gender-neutral language and make no special effort to avoid what advocates may describe as sexist language. However, many terms advocated or proposed by advocates of gender-neutral language, such as "firefighter" or "he or she," have entered the common lexicon and may be used by those who do not have any particular feeling about the subject.Negative positions
The criticisms of promoting gender-neutral language extend from a "It's much ado about nothing," and "It's political correctness gone mad,"[9] to "It's unnecessarily ruining the English language."Some regard gender-neutral language as revisionist, as excessively politically correct, as promoting poor or heavy writing, or simply a cosmetic change that does nothing to actually repel sexism. They may consciously refuse to use forms of speech advocated by promoters of gender-neutral language. Some critics have noted:
- Traditional use of the English language, and other Indo-European and Afro-Asiatic languages, including using male pronouns when referencing both males and females, is not sexist. They point out that the difference between, for example, "waiter" and "waitress," is purely for specificity, not quality differentiation, and the difference is not synonymous with judgment.
- Men and women are different and speakers need not be afraid to admit that.
- There is no reason to assume that the traditional linguistic gender hierarchies reflect a bias against women. The female grammatical gender is simply marked and it could actually reflect women being "more" valued than men.[10]
- Rewriting text to eliminate gender-specific pronouns often results in an awkward and ugly writing style.
- So long as the speaker does not intend a derogatory meaning, then there is no issue and the remnants of the past need not be changed.
- A change in language should evolve organically from changing public attitudes towards gender issues, rather than be achieved either by enforcement or by persuasion.
Neologisms
Some terms, such as "firefighter" and singular "they", are sometimes criticized by opponents of gender neutral language-modification as neologisms. But supporters argue that such terms have a long history that predates the beginning of the women's liberation movement by centuries. At other times new terms have indeed been created, such as "womyn." The issue is sometimes confused by satirists who satirize extreme examples of the supposed consequences of "non-sexist language."Some critics accuse advocates of gender-neutral language-modification of "re-gendering" language, replacing masculine in some cases by feminine terms that are equally sexist. Other critics argue that some phrases used in non-sexist language violate the rules of proper grammar and style.
Some critics claim that phrases like "he or she" are not real English, for they only exist in print, not in speech. In print it is easy for an editor to employ rules of gender-neutral language, but speech is practically impossible to control.
Many linguists see phrases such as "he or she" as a solution to a non-existent problem, arguing that many English speakers happily use the singular "they" without thinking. But many others still insist that it is a grammatical error. The feminist linguists argue that the case for the singular "they" is quite compelling based on the history of the English language. They argue that it has been in continuous use since the Middle Ages, and cite its use by some of the greatest English authors including Shakespeare and Chaucer. The editors of some style guides have been convinced by these arguments, and some guides have begun to accept the singular "they" as grammatically correct, while others continue to reject it.
Critics of the singular "they" argue that while it may sound acceptable in some contexts, in other contexts it would clearly sound absurd: Strunk and White remarked, under the heading They in The Elements of Style: "Some bashful speakers even say, 'A friend of mine told me that they ...'" (See also Singular they#Modern reactions.) "ABC Bakery invites you to taste their pastries" sounds acceptable in part because of the expectation that ABC Bakery is not a one-person shop. "Each candidate must submit their credentials" sounds acceptable because there are implicitly multiple candidates.
Guidelines
Different authorities have presented guidelines on whether and how to use gender-neutral, or "non-sexist" language. Several are listed below:- The "Publication Manual" of the American Psychological Association has an oft-cited section on "Guidelines to Reduce Bias in Language." ISBN 1–55798–791–2
- American Psychological Association — published 1986
- The Guardian — see section "gender issues"
- Avoiding Heterosexual Bias in Language, published by the Committee on Lesbian and Gay Concern, American Psychological Association.
Standards advocated by supporters of the gender-neutral modification in English have been applied differently and to differing degrees among English speakers worldwide. This has reflecting differences in cultures and language structure, for example American English in contrast to British English. They are also impacted upon, depending on whether a person uses English as their first language or as a second language, regional variants or whether their form of English is based on grammatical structures inherited from a no longer widely used other language (for example, Hiberno-English) or owes its linguistic structure to earlier Old English or Elizabethan English. In these cases, language structure from their native tongue or linguistic inheritance may enter into their terminology.
Notes
1. ^ Some Notes on Gender-Neutral Language. [1]
2. ^ The Cambridge Guide to English Usage pp 243,4
3. ^ Redfern, Jenny R. "Gender Fair Language." The Writing Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. [2]
4. ^ "Gender Neutral Language." University of Saskatchewan Policies, 2001. [3] Accessed March 25, 2007.
5. ^ Chappell, Virginia. "Tips for Using Inclusive, Gender Neutral Language." Marquette University, 2007. [4]
6. ^ "Guidelines on Gender-Neutral Language." United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 1999. [5] Accessed March 25, 2007.
7. ^ Cobbett, William. A Grammar of the English Language in a Series of Letters: Intended for the Use of Schools and of Young Persons in General, but Especially for the Use of Soldiers, Sailors, Apprentices, and Plough-Boys. London: Printed for the Author and sold by T. Dolby, 1819.
8. ^ Bales, Richard A., "Gender Neutral Language." Bench & Bar Kentucky, Vol. 66, No. 3, May 2002 Available at SSRN: [6]
9. ^ [7]
10. ^ Against the Theory of "Sexist Language," by Kelley L. Ross
2. ^ The Cambridge Guide to English Usage pp 243,4
3. ^ Redfern, Jenny R. "Gender Fair Language." The Writing Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. [2]
4. ^ "Gender Neutral Language." University of Saskatchewan Policies, 2001. [3] Accessed March 25, 2007.
5. ^ Chappell, Virginia. "Tips for Using Inclusive, Gender Neutral Language." Marquette University, 2007. [4]
6. ^ "Guidelines on Gender-Neutral Language." United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 1999. [5] Accessed March 25, 2007.
7. ^ Cobbett, William. A Grammar of the English Language in a Series of Letters: Intended for the Use of Schools and of Young Persons in General, but Especially for the Use of Soldiers, Sailors, Apprentices, and Plough-Boys. London: Printed for the Author and sold by T. Dolby, 1819.
8. ^ Bales, Richard A., "Gender Neutral Language." Bench & Bar Kentucky, Vol. 66, No. 3, May 2002 Available at SSRN: [6]
9. ^ [7]
10. ^ Against the Theory of "Sexist Language," by Kelley L. Ross
References
- Peters, Pam (2004). The Cambridge Guide to English Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-62181-X.
- American Philosophical Association — published 1986
- Avoiding Heterosexual Bias in Language, published by the Committee on Lesbian and Gay Concern, American Psychological Association.
- ME Johnson, S Dowling-Guyer. "Effects of inclusive vs. exclusive language on evaluations of the counselor."
- Non-Sexist Language, Purdue University Online Writing Lab.
- "Publication Manual" of the American Psychological Association has an oft-cited section on "Guidelines to Reduce Bias in Language." ISBN 1–55798–791–2
- The Guardian — see section "gender issues"
See also
How-to guide (Wikipedia)
- Wikipedia's how-to guide on gender-neutral language
Manual of Style (Wikipedia)
- Manual of Style: Gender-neutral language
Other languages
- Gender-neutrality in languages with grammatical gender
- Gender-neutrality in languages without grammatical gender
Specific issues
- Epicene
- Gender-neutral pronoun
- Gender-specific pronoun
- Gender-specific job title
- Generic antecedents
- Unisex name
Related articles
External links
- "Against the Theory of Sexist Language"
- Anyone who had a heart would know their own language — Transcript of ABC Radio program on the singular they.
- Attitudes toward the use of gender-inclusive language among residency trainees, G. H. Guyatt, D. J. Cook, L. Griffith, S. D. Walter, C. Risdon, and J. Liutkus (pdf)
- Bible Research — Gender-neutral Bible controversy
- CBT Policy on Gender-Inclusive Language
- Does the Bible really support gender-inclusive language?
- Excerpt from "The American Heritage Book of English Usage. A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English." 1996.
- Female Grammar: Men's speech and women's speech
- Guidelines for Gender-Fair Use of Language The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
- Ansary, H., & Babaii, E. (2003). Subliminal sexism in current ESL EFL textbooks. The Asian EFL Journal Vol 5(1)
- Inclusive language
- Regender can translate English web pages so as to swap genders. Reading such gender-swapped pages can be an interesting exercise in detecting "gender-biased language."
- Some Notes on Gender-Neutral Language
- The Great Person-Hole Cover Debate: A Modest Proposal for Anyone by Lindsy Van Gelder.
- The Necessary Failure of Inclusive-Language Translations
Word Usage is how a word, phrase, or concept is used in a language. Lexicographers gather samples of written or spoken instances where a word is used and analyze them to determine patterns of regional or social usage as well as meaning.
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Sex refers to the male and female duality of biology and reproduction. Unlike organisms that only have the ability to reproduce asexually, sexed male and female pairs have the ability to produce offspring through meiosis and fertilization.
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reference is a relation between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object. Such relations may occur in a variety of domains, including linguistics, logic, computer science, art, and scholarship.
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Discrimination
Major forms
Racism
Sexism
Homophobia
Ageism
Antisemitism
Islamophobia
Ableism
Manifestations
Slavery · Racial profiling
Hate speech · Hate crime
Genocide · Ethnocide · Holocaust
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Major forms
Racism
Sexism
Homophobia
Ageism
Antisemitism
Islamophobia
Ableism
Manifestations
Slavery · Racial profiling
Hate speech · Hate crime
Genocide · Ethnocide · Holocaust
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See Language (journal) for the linguistics journal.
A language is a system of symbols and the rules used to manipulate them. Language can also refer to the use of such systems as a general phenomenon.
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twentieth century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000, according to the Gregorian calendar. Some historians consider the era from about 1914 to 1991 to be the Short Twentieth Century.
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Feminism is an ideology focusing on equality of the sexes.[1] Feminism comprises a number of social, cultural and political movements, theories and moral philosophies concerned with gender inequalities and discrimination against women.
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Generic antecedents are representives of classes, indicated by a reference in ordinary language (most often a pronoun), where gender is typically unknown or irrelevant.
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Patriarchy describes the structuring of society on the basis of family units, in which fathers have primary responsibility for the welfare of these units, such as a family. In some cultures slaves were included as part of such households.
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Modern English}}}
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: —
ISO 639-3: — Modern English is the form of the English language spoken since the great vowel shift, completed in roughly 1550.
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Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: —
ISO 639-3: — Modern English is the form of the English language spoken since the great vowel shift, completed in roughly 1550.
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Old English/Anglo-Saxon}}}
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: ang
ISO 639-3: ang Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon[1], Englisc
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Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: ang
ISO 639-3: ang Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon[1], Englisc
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In linguistics, grammatical genders, sometimes also called noun classes, are classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words; every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be very few which belong to several classes at once.
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Latin}}}
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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For the periodical, see .
The 19th Century (also written XIX century) lasted from 1801 through 1900 in the Gregorian calendar. It is often referred to as the "1800s...... Click the link for more information.
Latin}}}
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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Grammar is the study of the rules governing the use of a given natural language, and as such a field of linguistics. Traditionally, grammar included morphology and syntax, in modern linguistics commonly expanded by the subfields of phonetics, phonology, orthography, semantics, and
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twentieth century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000, according to the Gregorian calendar. Some historians consider the era from about 1914 to 1991 to be the Short Twentieth Century.
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Anglosphere describes a group of anglophone (English-speaking) nations which share historical, political, and cultural characteristics rooted in or attributed to the historical experience of the United Kingdom (UK).
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Discrimination
Major forms
Racism
Sexism
Homophobia
Ageism
Antisemitism
Islamophobia
Ableism
Manifestations
Slavery · Racial profiling
Hate speech · Hate crime
Genocide · Ethnocide · Holocaust
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Major forms
Racism
Sexism
Homophobia
Ageism
Antisemitism
Islamophobia
Ableism
Manifestations
Slavery · Racial profiling
Hate speech · Hate crime
Genocide · Ethnocide · Holocaust
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The principle of linguistic relativity is Benjamin Whorf's theory of the way in which an individual's thoughts are influenced by the language(s) they have available to express them.
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Benjamin Lee Whorf (April 24, 1897 in Winthrop, Massachusetts – July 26, 1941) was an American linguist. Whorf, along with Edward Sapir, is best known for having laid the foundation of the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis.
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"Singular" they is a popular, non-technical expression for uses of the pronoun they (and its inflected forms) when plurality is not required by the context.
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Ethics (via Latin ethica from the Ancient Greek ἠθική [φιλοσοφία]
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A textbook is a manual of instruction or a standard book in any branch of study. They are produced according to the demand of the educational institutions. Textbooks are usually published by one of the four major publishing companies.
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Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information – the activity of making information available for public view. In some cases, authors may be their own publishers.
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The Associated Press
Non-profit cooperative
Founded New York City, 1846 [1]
Headquarters New York City
Key people Tom Curley, President and CEO
Area served Worldwide
Industry News media
Products Wire service
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Non-profit cooperative
Founded New York City, 1846 [1]
Headquarters New York City
Key people Tom Curley, President and CEO
Area served Worldwide
Industry News media
Products Wire service
..... Click the link for more information.
Topics in journalism
Professional issues
Ethics & objectivity
Sources & attribution
News & news values
Reporting & writing
Fourth estate • Libel law
Education & books
Other topics
Fields
Advocacy journalism
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Professional issues
Ethics & objectivity
Sources & attribution
News & news values
Reporting & writing
Fourth estate • Libel law
Education & books
Other topics
Fields
Advocacy journalism
..... Click the link for more information.
The May 8, 2007 front page of
The New York Times
Type Daily newspaper
Format Broadsheet
Owner The New York Times Company
Publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr.
Staff Writers 350
Founded 1851
Price USD 1.
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Type Daily newspaper
Format Broadsheet
Owner Dow Jones & Company
(Sale Pending to News Corp.)
Publisher L. Gordon Crovitz
Editor Marcus Brauchli
Founded July 8, 1889
Language English
Headquarters 200 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10281
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Gender", in common usage, refers to the differences between men and women. Encyclopaedia Britannica notes that gender identity is "an individual's self-conception as being male or female, as distinguished from actual biological sex.
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