1. World problems
  2. Reinforcement of male dominance through language

Reinforcement of male dominance through language

  • Phallogeneric terminology

Nature

Use of the term "he" or "man" to speak of one member of a mixed group of people is considered correct English, even if the group consists of 50 women and one man. This creates in the minds of those who use the language an image of male people. Likewise "the evolution of man" lets you see in the mind's eye males evolving. This misleads the imagination, so much so that history, current events, the direction of the universe all take place without females having ever been there. When both sexes have the image of the male in mind when they use the term "man", this also means that males and females have a dramatically different sense of themselves as participants in the human venture. Pseudogeneric terms may create the impression of including men but which in reality convey the message that only men exist.

Broader

Male domination
Presentable

Aggravates

Aggravated by

Related

Strategy

Value

Reinforcement
Yet to rate
Dominance [D]
Yet to rate
Dominance [C]
Yet to rate

Reference

SDG

Sustainable Development Goal #5: Gender Equality

Metadata

Database
World problems
Type
(F) Fuzzy exceptional problems
Subject
  • Language » Languages
  • Research, standards » Nomenclature
  • Society » Men
  • Content quality
    Presentable
     Presentable
    Language
    English
    Last update
    Nov 28, 2022