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Hello guys, how are you all feeling today?’ This is a common greeting or welcoming phrase that we always hear at the start of an event. Yet this greeting only focuses on the ‘guys’ in the room, does it mean that there are no females in the room? That is probably not the case. We are so used to using terms such as ‘guys’ to address the audience, yet as a female or sexual minority person, one may not feel comfortable or even feel left out when we use such terms.
This trend of using gender-neutral language has been adopted by institutions such as the United Nations, universities and even corporates, with the aim to create a more inclusive environment for people of different genders. Instead of using ‘guys’, we can use terms such as ‘everyone’ or ‘folks’. By replacing gendered language with neutral ones, we can make sure that everyone in the room feels comfortable. Some may say that it’s a generic saying to use ‘guys’ and there is no connotation of neglecting the females in the room, perhaps some females may also feel that it is alright to do so. But our language has been gendered for many centuries, especially with Romance language such as French, where there are masculine and feminine nouns.
We can see that gender stereotypes are deeply embedded in our language, such as policemen, firemen, which are occupations that are ‘designed’ to fit men. If there is a woman who is also a scientist, we use the term ‘female scientist’. But if it’s a male scientist, we just say scientist. By using genderless nouns such as police officer, firefighters, we can encourage people to think of the occupation or job role to be more gender neutral and allow our children not to be limited in terms of their ability due to their gender.
Other than changing the terms from masculine or feminine into neutral ones, there is also another common way for us to use our language wisely, which is to select and choose the adjectives that we use to describe a person, especially in a compliment. ‘Oh little Amy you are so pretty!’ That’s a common compliment that we would say when we see a lovely girl or even a grown-up woman. What about if we want to praise a boy? ‘Oh Peter, you are such a smart boy.’ Did you notice the difference in the nature of the adjectives used to describe female and male? ‘Pretty’ versus ‘smart. It’s common for people to focus on the looks for females and believing that complimenting their looks are a sign of praising them, such as on their gorgeous dress, splendid outfit and slender body. Whereas for males, we tend to comment on their competencies, such as smartness and ability to do something, usually on more internal qualities. We are often so used to using such phrases that we do not really pay attention, but such if a person is constantly being commented on one’s looks, I am quite sure that that individual will spend more time to care about the looks and less about one’s inner qualities, since they would not feel that others would care about those qualities anyway. If we do not have to reinforce stereotypes and the obsession of looks for female appearances, we should also compliment women and girls based on their competencies. Next time, when you wish to compliment a lady, try to dig deeper and look beyond her external appearances.
It does take time for us to tune our language to more inclusive and empowering, and it may be even quite tiring to do so and it does take some effort. Next time, before you want to start a conversation, talk about an occupation or compliment someone, PAUSE and give it a thought. How can you say it in a more inclusive way so that everybody will feel included? Let us use our tongue to drive change and empower people of all genders.
JOSCELIN YEUNG
International Relations Chair
The Hong Kong Association of Business and Professional Women (BPWHK)