March 1976: More Examples of Sexist and Nonsexist Alternatives

Sexist: Give each students his paper as soon as he is finished.

Alternative: Give students their papers as soon as they are finished.

Sexist: The average student is worried about his grades.

Alternative: The average student is worried about grades.

Sexist: If the student was satisfied with his performance on the pretest, he took the posttest.

Alternative: A student who was satisfied with her or his performance on the pretest took the posttest.

Better: Students who were satisfied with their performance on the pretest, took the posttest. RayS. When in doubt use the plural.

Sexist: Let each student participate. Has he had a chance to talk? Could he feel left out?

Alternative: Let each student participate. Has she had a chance to talk? Could he feel left out?

Better: Let all students participate. Has everyone had a chance to talk? Could anyone feel left out? RayS.

Sexist: Anyone who wants to go to the game should bring his money tomorrow.

Alternative: Anyone who wants to go to the game should bring their money tomorrow.

Better: All who want to go to the game should bring their money tomorrow. The NCTE’s alternative is technically incorrect. The singular “Anyone” is followed by the plural “their.” RayS.

Sexist: NCTE convention-goers and their wives are invited….

Alternative: NCTE convention-goers and their spouses are invited….

Title: “For the Members.” Prepared by Headquarters Staff of NCTE. English Journal (March 1976), pp. 23-26.

Next blog: And more examples.

March 1976: Examples of Sexist and Nonsexist Alternatives

Sexist: mankind

Alternatives: humanity, human beings, people.

Sexist: man’s achievements

Alternative: human achievements

Sexist: the best man for the job

Alternatives: the best person for the job; the best man or woman for the job.

Sexist: man-made

Alternatives: synthetic, manufactured, crafted, machine-made.

Sexist: the common man

Alternatives: the average person, ordinary people

Sexist: chairman

Alternatives: coordinator, moderator, presiding officer, head, chair.

Sexist: businessman, fireman, mailman

Alternatives: business executive or manager, fire fighter, mail carrier

Sexist: steward and stewardess

Alternatives: flight attendant

Sexist: policeman and policewoman

Alternative: police officer

Title: “For the Members.” Prepared by Headquarters Staff of NCTE. English Journal (March 1976), pp. 23-26.

Next blog: More examples

March 1976: Selections from Guidelines for Nonsexist Use of Language

Archive 20: Articles and ideas published in the past that are of interest today in the 21^st century.

“At the 1974 Convention members adopted a resolution calling for the preparation of guidelines for NCTE publications and correspondence to help insure the use of nonsexist language.”

In my next several blogs, I am going to give you these guidelines that also appear in the March 1976 English Journal. As you will see, I don’t always agree with the NCTE’s suggestions for correcting the problem. I will suggest what I think are more graceful uses of language. However, the majority of the guidelines are well done. RayS.

Guidelines for Nonsexist Use Of Language in NCTE Publications.

“ ‘Sexism’ may be defined as words or actions that arbitrarily assign roles or characteristics to people on the basis of sex. Originally used to refer to practices that discriminated against women, the term now includes any usage that unfairly delimits the aspirations or attributes of either sex. Neither men nor women can reach their full potential when men are conditioned to be only aggressive, and analytical and active and women are conditioned to be only submissive, emotional and passive. The man who cannot cry and the woman who cannot command are equally victims of their socialization.

“Language plays a central role in socialization, for it helps teach children the roles that are expected of them. Through language, children conceptualize their ideas and feelings about themselves and their world. Thought and action are reflected in words, and words in turn condition how a person thinks and acts. Eliminating sexist language will not eliminate sexist conduct, but as the language is liberated from sexist usages and assumptions, women and men will begin to share more equal, active, caring roles.

“Recognizing these problems, members of the National Council of Teachers of English passed a resolution at their 1974 convention directing the Council to create guidelines ensuring the use of nonsexist language in NCTE publications and correspondence. Although directed specifically to NCTE editors, authors, and staff, the guideilines will also benefit members at large. Whether teaching in the classroom, assigning texts, determining curriculum, or serving on national committees, NCTE members directly ad indirectly influence the socialization of children. They help shape the language patterns and usage of students and thus have potential for promoting language that opens rather than closes possibilities to women and men.

“These guidelines are not comprehensive. They identify sexist usages that plague communication and discuss specific problems that NCTE encounters in its role as an educational publisher. The guidelines do not offer a new dogmatism. Detailed and vigorous arguments continue over many of these language patterns. These debates have not been resolved; rather, an attempt has been made to identify usages that concerned men and women find objectionable and to propose alternatives.”

Title: “For the Members.” Prepared by Headquarters Staff of NCTE. English Journal (March 1976), pp. 23-26.

Next blog: Some Examples.

March 1976: Something to Think about--Poetry

Archive 20: Articles and ideas published in the past that are of interest today in the 21^st century.

Question: Why do we teach poetry?

Answer—Quote: “…once Archibald MacLeish ventured that ‘We teach poetry not to impose answers, but to reveal choices.’ ” P. 16.

Comment: For me, there’s a whole lot of meaning in that sentence—about teaching poetry. RayS.

Title: “Mutterings: Monsters.” Charles Weingartner. English Journal (March 1976), 14-16.

March 1976: Much Ado about "Like" as a Conjunction

Archive 20: Articles and ideas published in the past that are of interest today in the 21^st century.

Question: Is “like” as a conjunction historically ungrammatical?

Answer—Quote: “An article in a local paper questioning the correctness of the infamous Winston ad (‘Winston tastes good like a cigarette should’) brought that old chestnut once again to the fore. But it had been a ‘pet hate phrase [for the writer] for some time.’ It ‘bugs’ him, he said, ‘not just because the slogan is ungrammatical’ but ‘because it reflects a cynical and calculated abuse of the language.’

“Historically, ‘like’ has been used as a conjunction…by Keats, Shakespeare, Dryden, Burns, Coleridge, Shelley, Darwin, Bronte, Kipling, Shaw, Wells, Masefield and Maugham, as well as the Encyclopedia Britannica (Thank you, Bergan Evans); so it is not ungrammatical. Those who damn the use of ‘like’ as a conjunction began with the 19^th century literary gentlemen whose education had been chiefly Greek and Latin, who were bent on forcing English into the Procrustean Bed of classical languages. There is no reason why we should force English to conform to the rules of Latin; there is nothing inherent in English that requires that one use ‘as’ rather than ‘like’ in the Winston ad.

“Objections come from purists from those who are plagued by that vague correctness demon that hovers over their shoulders whenever they speak or write. A primary use of language is to affect people. Winston’s use of ‘like’ (let us assume they were unaware of the historical validity of its use) was to arouse. Obviously, they have succeeded. If the ad men used ‘like’ as a ‘calculated abuse of the language,’ they were playing the language game well. It was a stroke of genius to so well read the American psyche; of course we would react to such a significant ‘abuse’ of the language, and thus provide so much free publicity and attention to their product. That is, after all, the purpose of advertising.” P. 12.

Comment: So many of the conventions of language (my—and the writer’s—beginning  sentences with a coordinate conjunction, for example) are not ungrammatical if you accept the author’s excuse that some of the best writers have used the supposed “mistake.” Still, I am a victim of habit. “Like” as a conjunction grates on my ear. I am sensitive to its use. I cannot help it. RayS.

Title: “The Language Game.” William Reynolds. English Journal (March 1976), 11-13.