The Encyclopedia
of World Problems
& Human Potential

Lack of appropriate language to describe female experience

Nature

Naming encodes the bias of those who do the naming. In the English language, males were those who held the positions of power during the periods in which the language was being developed. English speakers today suffer from an inability to articulate the female experiences, perspectives and feelings which language developers had no ability to perceive.

Incidence

Men frequently point out that women are talking "nonsense", especially when they seek to articulate a vocational or relational experience. Linguistically, this is precisely correct. The female perspective is not part of the "common sense" of the English language.

Broader

Gender-biased language

Sexist discrimination in epistemology

Language as a barrier to communication

Aggravates

Censorship of women

Male bias of medicine

Segregation through language

Discriminatory language in the arts

Aggravated by

Male bias of law

Strategy(ies)

Providing sufficient appropriate language to describe female experience

Value(s)

Type

(F) Fuzzy exceptional problems

About the Encyclopedia

The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential is a unique, experimental research work of the Union of International Associations. It is currently published as a searchable online platform with profiles of world problems, action strategies, and human values that are interlinked in novel and innovative ways. These connections are based on a range of relationships such as broader and narrower scope, aggravation, relatedness and more. By concentrating on these links and relationships, the Encyclopedia is uniquely positioned to bring focus to the complex and expansive sphere of global issues and their interconnected nature.

The initial content for the Encyclopedia was seeded from UIA’s Yearbook of International Organizations. UIA’s decades of collected data on the enormous variety of association life provided a broad initial perspective on the myriad problems of humanity. Recognizing that international associations are generally confronting world problems and developing action strategies based on particular values, the initial content was based on the descriptions, aims, titles and profiles of international associations.

About UIA

The Union of International Associations (UIA) is a research institute and documentation centre, based in Brussels. It was established in 1907, by Henri la Fontaine (Nobel Peace Prize laureate of 1913), and Paul Otlet, a founding father of what is now called information science.

Non-profit, apolitical, independent, and non-governmental in nature, the UIA has been a pioneer in the research, monitoring and provision of information on international organizations, international associations and their global challenges since 1907.

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Lack of appropriate language to describe female experience

About the Encyclopedia

About UIA