Although I hate to admit it I have not been a feminist my whole life, preferring an imagined life as a radical flower child. Not for any particular reason other than I was uneducated about the movement and did not take my first class until I was in college. *Quick side-note: this has made me passionate about bringing women’s issues education to K-12 institutions.* Before that life-changing course, feminism was something I knew about and although I always "wanted women’s rights," I never identified as a feminist. Needless to say, that has all changed.
When I think back on my non-feminist life, I see sexist instances that I ignored, or places I could have spoken out that will be forever out of my grasp to change – after all, they are in the past. Then I get e-mails like the one I received today from my college service fraternity and I am reminded that there are things I can fight to change now:
“This e-newsletter is in addition to the communications you are already receiving from the Fraternity -- not a replacement. The brothers who receive this e-newsletter have an updated e-mail address on file with the National Office.” (emphasis mine)
Brother? Fraternity? How can I identify with something that completely ignores that my gender exists within the framework of the organization? I am not the only female within this organization; this e-mail comes from a community service group made up of both men and women. Attendance for women at universities is on the rise, and mine in particular had more women than men, but still we are labeled as FreshMEN during our first year.
Once you start looking into it these examples are all over the place: congressman, policeman, fireman, history, etc. A favorite of mine is the “you guys” statement that I have been known to get into arguments about, especially when it is said to a group of all women.
I understand why people tell me these are “just things we say,” but I truly believe that it is harmful to women’s issues to use sexist language. By using exclusionary language we undermine women’s power and significance in our daily lives and I would rather be seen as a complainer than stand by and let it happen.
*For more reading, please read the sexist language paper my Sociology Professor gave us on the first day: Why Sexist Language Matters
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: You Guys!.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.fcgi/9258
Weekly Feministing Newsletter
Feministing RSS Feed
I kind of disagree, I mean, if there were "fireman" and "firewoman" there could be room for more sexism. Both genders can do the job equally well so by putting in different names you are pushing the idea that the female firefighters are somehow different than the male firefighters(they are different, but only in their sex organs).
Also, some people switch genders in language to emphasize a certain characteristic. For instance, I am biologically female and plan to remain that way, but I sometimes refer to myself as a "boy" or "guy" in conversations. Not everyone fits the gender binary.
I think the English language should be made completely general neutral!
My University uses the gender-neutral "Frosh" to refer to first-year students - frankly I'm surprised people still use "Freshman", it sounds so antiquated.
Congressman, policeman, fireman, mailman... I was under the impression that people were moving (slowly but surely) away from these words to congressperson, police officer (or cop), firefighter, and mail carrier. Eventually I think the gender specific versions will sound as odd as "freshman" does to me now.
As for "history", I'm fairly certain that despite the way it conveniently breaks down in English - "HIS story" - it doesn't actually have the same linguistic roots as the word "his".
My friends and I frequently use "guys" to describe a group that includes (or consists exclusively of) females, and generally I prefer it to most of the alternatives. If I'm the only female (or part of a female minority) in a group of males I don't want to be constantly singled out. In that context "guys" as a (pseudo) gender neutral prevents me from being constantly othered. Calling a group of my female friends "gals" or "girls" feels contrived, especially if I only do it when there aren't males in the group. I also call people of either gender "dude", but that seems to throw people off a little more. I agree with anglerfish though, it would be nice if the English language was genuinely gender-neutral.
In the UK everyone uses 'freshers' for first year students; maybe you could introduce that if it doesn't sound too weird :)
I agree, we need to change our entire outlook on life (including the language we use) in order to break down sexism. I don't think we should use "fireman" and "firewoman," but "firefighter" as rhowan pointed out.
We need to rewrite HIStory as inclusive of HERstory, and make a collective tale of past events that we can call something I haven't figured out yet (ourstory?).
Also, in terms of the "you guys," thing, I try to use things like "hey team," "hey y'all," or "hey people" as substitutes.
"You guys" should only be used to address a group of guys. "You all" or "y'all" is a better option for mixed gender groups and it clarifies that the speaker is addressing a group instead of an individual.
@Salad I think you might have to have an American accent to pull of "y'all" without it sounding forced - I know I can't pull it off.