Technologies of writing have encompassed our world since the introduction of language by man. For some reason, even I am stumped in my wonderings of language beginning with man. Where were the ladies during this development, I ask? Surely, they were not absent in its structural forefront of grunts and hand gestures. It appears, somewhere along the way, society deemed language a man’s tool first; everyone else’s second. Gendered language is abundantly present even in our modern daily interactions with one another. Our society has only room for the “guys” who can “man up.” Man is virtually everywhere. He is the one who delivers our mail everyday. The one who fights the fires that scorch our neighborhoods. He it the good of all mankind.
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Women so easily forfeit their femininity and social status when addressed with male nouns. However, the male population cannot be bothered with feminine words or phrases. Why is it okay to address a group of mixed individuals as “you guys,” but offensive to say “you gals” in a group with a male presence? Just yesterday, I was working out with two other women and one man at the gym. My trainer momentarily forgot the arrival of the man into our small group. He directed us into the next exercise with, “Okay girls, I want you to move over here.” As one can see, this is problematic because our group is not “girls”, but three girls and one guy. The man swiftly jumped on the trainer’s word choice declaring, “How could you forget me? Come on, man.” The complication is not in our misrepresentation of a female population, but in our cultural norms that teach men their masculinity must preserved. Preservation comes in the form of rejecting female attributes. It is unfathomable to men to be addressed as anything but a masculine noun. Even the actions of young men must be masculine. We shame the boy who cries in public. We mock the one who “throws like a girl.” Boys are subconsciously taught that they are above women, even in
Women so easily forfeit their femininity and social status when addressed with male nouns. However, the male population cannot be bothered with feminine words or phrases. Why is it okay to address a group of mixed individuals as “you guys,” but offensive to say “you gals” in a group with a male presence? Just yesterday, I was working out with two other women and one man at the gym. My trainer momentarily forgot the arrival of the man into our small group. He directed us into the next exercise with, “Okay girls, I want you to move over here.” As one can see, this is problematic because our group is not “girls”, but three girls and one guy. The man swiftly jumped on the trainer’s word choice declaring, “How could you forget me? Come on, man.” The complication is not in our misrepresentation of a female population, but in our cultural norms that teach men their masculinity must preserved. Preservation comes in the form of rejecting female attributes. It is unfathomable to men to be addressed as anything but a masculine noun. Even the actions of young men must be masculine. We shame the boy who cries in public. We mock the one who “throws like a girl.” Boys are subconsciously taught that they are above women, even in