8.2: Microaggressions vs. Inclusive Language

Microaggressions

Microaggressions is a term used to describe experiences of systemically disadvantaged and marginalized groups. Chester Pierce defines microaggressions as "the everyday, minor, and apparently innocuous 'degradations and put-downs’ experienced by members of oppressed, systematically disadvantaged or marginalized groups" (qtd. in McTernan 261). Although such degradations or put-downs may be unintentional, they are no less real. Microaggressions damage speaker credibility and can potentially harm or offend audience members.

People often and very unwittingly use language that is derogatory or harmful to others. A lot of people think there's no harm in a term if no harm was intended. This is far from true; we do not control others' definitions, and we do not get to decide what a word means to someone else. Lastly, we do not get to say that a word or phrase is not hurtful because we did not mean it to be.

One way to avoid microaggressions is to consciously use inclusive language. Language can either inspire your listeners or turn them off very quickly. One of the fastest ways to alienate an audience is through the use of non-inclusive language. Inclusive language is language that avoids placing any one group of people above or below other groups while speaking.

Let’s look at some common problem areas related to language about gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and disabilities, as well as more inclusive language that can remedy these problems.

Gender-Specific Language

The first common form of noninclusive language is language that privileges one of the sexes over the other. There are three common problem areas that speakers run into while speaking: using “he” as generic, using “man” to mean all humans, and gender-typing jobs.

Generic “He”

The generic “he” happens when a speaker labels all people within a group as “he” when in reality there is a mixed-sex group involved. Consider the statement, “Every morning when an officer of the law puts on his badge, he risks his life to serve and protect his fellow citizens.” In this case, we have a police officer that is labeled as male four different times in one sentence. However, both male and female police officers risk their lives when they put on their badges. A better way to word the sentence would be, “Every morning when officers of the law put on their badges, they risk their lives to serve and protect their fellow citizens.” Notice that in the better sentence, we made the subject plural (“officers”) and used neutral pronouns (“they” and “their”) to avoid the generic “he.”

Use of “Man”

Traditionally, speakers of English have used terms like “man,” “mankind,” and (in casual contexts) “guys” when referring to both females and males. In the second half of the twentieth century, as society became more aware of gender bias in language, organizations like the National Council of Teachers of English developed guidelines for nonsexist language ("Statement on Gender and Language"). For example, instead of using the word “man,” you could refer to the “human race.” Instead of saying, “hey, guys,” you could say, “OK, everyone.” By using gender-fair language, you will be able to convey your meaning just as well, and you won’t risk alienating parts of your audience.

Gender-Typed Jobs

The last common area where speakers get into trouble with gender and language has to do with job titles. It is not unusual for people to assume, for example, that doctors are male and nurses are female. As a result, they may say “she is a woman doctor” or “he is a male nurse” when mentioning someone’s occupation. We might say statements like this without realizing that the statements “she is a doctor” and “he is a nurse” already inform the listener as to the sex of the person holding that job. Speakers sometimes also use a gender-specific pronoun to refer to an occupation that has both males and females. Table 1 lists some common gender-specific jobs titles along with more inclusive versions of those job titles.

Table 1: Gender Type Jobs - Excessive and Inclusive Language

Exclusive Language	Inclusive Language
Policeman	Police officer
Businessman	Businessperson
Fireman	Firefighter
Stewardess	Flight attendant
Waiters	Wait staff/servers
Mailman	Letter carrier/postal worker
Barmaid	Bartender

Ethnic Identity

Another type of inclusive language relates to the categories used to highlight an individual’s ethnic identity. Ethnic identity refers to a group of individuals who identify with each other based on a common culture. For example, within the United States, we have numerous ethnic groups, including Italian Americans, Irish Americans, Japanese Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Cuban Americans, and Mexican Americans. As with the earlier example of “male nurse,” avoid statements such as “The committee is made up of four women and a Vietnamese man.” Instead, say, “The committee is made up of four women and a man” or, if race and ethnicity are central to the discussion, “The committee is made up of three European American women, an Israeli American woman, a Brazilian American woman, and a Vietnamese American man.” In recent years, there has been a trend toward steering inclusive language away from broad terms like “Asians” and “Hispanics” because these terms are not considered precise labels for the groups they actually represent. If you want to be safe, the best thing you can do is ask people who belong to an ethnic group how they prefer to label themselves.

Sexual Orientation

Another area that can cause some problems is referred to as heterosexism. Heterosexism occurs when a speaker presumes that everyone in an audience is heterosexual or that opposite-sex relationships are the only norm. For example, a speaker might begin a speech by saying, “I am going to talk about the legal obligations you will have with your future husband or wife.” While this speech starts with the notion that everyone plans on getting married, which isn’t the case, it also assumes that everyone will label their significant others as either “husbands” or “wives.” Although some members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community will use these terms, others prefer for more gender-neutral terms like “spouse” and “partner.” Notice also that we have used the phrase “members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community” instead of the more clinical-sounding term “homosexual.”

Ability

The last category of exclusive versus inclusive language that causes problems for some speakers relates to individuals with physical or mental disabilities. Table 2 provides some other examples of exclusive versus inclusive language.

 

Table 2: Inclusive Language for Disabilities

Exclusive Language	Inclusive Language
Handicapped People	Person with a disablity
Insane person	Person with a psychiatric disability (or label the psychiatric diagnosis, e.g. “person with schizophrenia”)
Person in a wheelchair	Person who uses a wheelchair
Crippled	Person with a physical disability
Special needs program	Accessible needs program
Mentally retarded	Person with an intellectual disability