DADvocate

During some brief research for a comment to a post by DrHelen, I came across an interesting tidbit in the Faculty Handbook for the University of Tennessee, my beloved alma mater. What caught my eye was Appendix 4 - Non-Sexist Language Guidelines of the handbook.

Sexism refers to discrimination on the basis of gender or sex. Sexist language reflects and creates discrimination. Since language is the basis for thought, sexist language is not only an indicator of but also a contributor to sexist attitudes and behavior. Thus, removal of sexual discrimination in language is necessary to eliminate sexism.

In all University settings, members of the University community should:

1. Use gender equivalent construction. Equivalent or parallel construction should be used for males and females. Thus, if males are referred to as “men,” females should be referred to as “women,” not as “girls” or “ladies.”

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4. Use person-oriented job and occupational titles. Many titles were developed by attaching “man” as a suffix to the job or occupation. Alternatives to such titles should be utilized, such as: chair, head, presiding officer, (not chairman);mail carrier (not mailman) etc.

5. Avoid sex-role stereotyping: provide parallel treatment of women and men.

(a) Women (as well as men) should be described on the basis of relevant characteristics rather than on the basis of gender.
(b) Jobs, tasks, and behaviors should not be characterized in a stereotypical fashion on the basis of sex. Avoid identifying all doctors, lawyers, pilots, researchers, and the like as males while identifying all secretaries, nurses, flight attendants, and cooks as women.

6. Exhibit non-patronizing, non-condescending ways of describing and addressing women, particularly women in traditional occupations, e.g., secretaries, clerks, nurses. Both men and women should be sensitized to the negative effects which result from usage of terms such as “girl,” “gal,” “coed,”, “girl Friday,” the “girls in the office,” and the like.

Wow! You can get in trouble for using the word "ladies," "coed," or "mailman."

The guidelines appear quite sexist to me in the way that is perfectly acceptable to the PC crowd. "Avoid identifying all doctors, lawyers, pilots, researchers, and the like as males while identifying all secretaries, nurses, flight attendants, and cooks as women." Plus, they only discuss protecting those poor, helpless, frail females from the cruel fate of hearing a discouraging word.

More women (not coeds or ladies or girls) are attending and graduating from medical and law school. Watch the Food Channel and you'll find that plenty of men are cooks. Quick! Who's the most well known chef in America? Could it be a MAN named Emeril?

The association I made with all this is contrasting this "we must protect the fragile egos of the delicate females" attitude of the male chancellor to Helen Reddy's feminsit anthem, "I Am Woman."The second half of the chorus goes:

If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman

The fade at the end:

I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong
I am woman

Yes, I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman!!

But refer to me as a "lady," "coed," or use the term "policeman" instead or "police officer," then I am irreparably harmed. I am crushed. I am INJURED!!

And such is the bizarro world of political correctness.

BTW - Answer me this: "Alma mater" means "nourishing mother," shouldn't we find a less sexist term to describe the schools from which we graduate?