“Princeton scrubs ‘men’ from campus”. “’Gender Inclusive’ Princeton Becomes No Man’s Land”. “Princeton HR department: Don’t use word ‘man’”. What happened to warrant such an explosion of the press?
In March of 2015, Princeton's Office of Human Resources published "Guidelines for Using Gender Inclusive Language." They were unearthed this past summer and since then there have been responses from campus news, student groups, and individuals alike. Although a range of responses have filled media and forums, many made broad claims without reference to any empirical data.
Troublingly, the Daily Princetonian Editorial Board took the wrong approach to the issue, suggesting that “the University must draw a distinction between expletives that have no meaningful contribution to the exchange of ideas, and commonly accepted English vocabulary such as ‘freshman.’…The latter has no pejorative denotation or connotation.” In fact, the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis demonstrates that gendered language influences the way we think about gender, regardless of intent. Gendered language lends greater visibility and weight to gender differences and stereotypes, even when utilized in seemingly innocuous ways.
The Editorial Board pressed on to claim, “the suggestion that a female student would be dissuaded from following her passion by something as simple as its title (which is again properly and commonly understood as being gender-neutral and not exclusive) presents a condescending and demeaning attitude towards Princeton women.” Despite this expressed belief that a gendered term may be received as gender-neutral or inclusive, it is subconsciously and inherently exclusive to one half of the gender binary (and completely disregards non-gender-binary inclusion). Recent research also reveals that young women’s dissuasions do not involve conscious or explicit choices on the part of the women. Gendered terms not only specify gender despite the lack of necessity in many circumstances, but also reinforce a gendered view of many roles and jobs. Perhaps most alarmingly, they do so under the guise of harmlessness in the eyes of many.
Furthermore, the Editorial Board failed to consider the justification of gender-neutral terms as championing a non-binary view of the gender spectrum. Gendered-language, even when male and female terms are both utilized, still excludes a subset of the population. Simply using “he or she” has never been a solution (nor has it been particularly convenient, for that matter). For example, the Human Resources guideline suggests reconfiguring sentences such as, “The incumbent edits a variety of documents. S/he prepares weekly updates.” The same sentence can be more effectively communicated as, “The incumbent edits a variety of documents and also prepares a weekly update.” so that it may refer to an individual of any gender.
The Editorial Board asserted that this set of recommendations “represents a disturbing trend toward restricting the marketplace of ideas, starting with the language that comprises it." Similarly, a response on behalf of the Princeton Open Campus Coalition called the recommendations “speech-stifling, patronizing (and grammatically incorrect) regulations.” How is it possible that a recommendation for the use of less restrictive terms (that in no way diminish the capacity for specificity) restricts the marketplace of ideas?
As gender-inclusive language recommendations are embraced by Universities around the world, due to both scientific evidence and administrative support, Princeton ought to follow suit. The University claim has only two prominent shortcomings: 1) it strives for gender-inclusive language as “writing and speaking about people in a manner that does not use gender-based words when the gender is unknown or applies to a mixed gender group of individuals” and 2) it solely applies to “official HR communications, policies, job descriptions, and job postings.” To create a genuinely inclusive and accepting community, we should strive not to use gender-based words in all aspects of campus life. A small change in the language we use can lead to a large change in the world we live in.
Kat Giordano is a psychology major from Morristown, NJ. She can be reached at keg2@princeton.edu.
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