Language Matters! Let’s Drop 'He or She' and Say More with Less

Hello all,

Language matters! What we say, what we write, what we pass on to future generations.

And how we routinely assign the male default to business, educational, and political leaders and some types of work and professions influences our unconscious minds in ways that reinforces the male default. It happens to me all the time.
I'm trying to interrupt those defaults, so I was excited to read this tip from the Better Allies newsletter about reducing gendered language.
This is a simple and effective way for workplaces to reduce the potential for reinforcing gender stereotypes or creating gender restrictions where none exists.

Something we can all do!

Here's the tip from Karen Catlin:

Rewrite binary-gendered phrases
In 2023, Dictionary.com updated its lexicon with new words to reflect the “always-evolving nature of English.” The organization also updated hundreds of entries to remove binary-gendered phrases like his or her and he or she. “In many cases, such phrases were replaced with their, they, or similar words. In other cases, entries were simply rewritten to avoid using a pronoun at all.”

I like that last option a lot.

For example, the previous definition of volunteer was “a person who voluntarily offers himself or herself for a service or undertaking.” Dictionary.com revised it to “a person who voluntarily offers to perform a service or undertaking.”

I see binary-gendered phrases pop up now and then. The other day, while searching for an email from a friend, I got the message, “You and <name> traded 3 messages in August 2023. You first sent him or her a message regarding <subject>.” That last sentence could have been simply, “You first sent a message regarding <subject>.”

I also get the occasional email titled “Dear Sir or Madam.” A more inclusive and updated version would be “Dear Colleague.”

Review your organization’s email and document templates, content repositories, or user interface messages for binary-gendered phrases. And advocate for them to be updated to use a more inclusive term or rewritten not to use a pronoun at all.

All the best,
Holly