Gender-neutral
Encyclopedia
Gender neutrality describes the idea that language and other social institutions should avoid distinguishing people by their gender, in order to avoid discrimination
arising from the impression that there are social roles for which one gender is more suited than the other. A common example occurs in the opposition to gender-specific job title
s such as stewardess and policeman in favor of terms that do not convey gender such as flight attendant
and police officer
.
Grammatically, gender-neutral language
(such as gender neutrality in English) is exemplified by the use of a gender-neutral pronoun
, although this is sometimes confused with the neuter grammatical gender
.
Proponents of gender neutrality may support public policies designed to eliminate gender distinctions, such as favoring same-sex marriage
on the belief that society should not limit the roles of husband or wife based on gender. Other controversial views may include support of gender-neutral toilet
s, with public restrooms being available without distinguishing the gender of the person using them. However, it has been observed that gender neutrality in the law has changed the nature of custody disputes, making it less likely that women will be awarded custody of their children in the event of a divorce
.
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
arising from the impression that there are social roles for which one gender is more suited than the other. A common example occurs in the opposition to gender-specific job title
Gender-specific job title
A gender-specific job title is a name of a job that also specifies or implies the gender of the person performing that job, such as stewardess...
s such as stewardess and policeman in favor of terms that do not convey gender such as flight attendant
Flight attendant
Flight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant derives from that of similar...
and police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
.
Grammatically, gender-neutral language
Gender-neutral language
Gender-neutral language, gender-inclusive language, inclusive language, or gender neutrality is linguistic prescriptivism that aims to eliminate reference to gender in terms that describe people...
(such as gender neutrality in English) is exemplified by the use of a gender-neutral pronoun
Gender-neutral pronoun
A gender-neutral pronoun is a pronoun that is not associated with any gender. It designates two distinct grammatical phenomena, the first being pronouns/periphrastics that have been assigned nontraditional meanings in modern times out of a concern for gender equity, and the second being genderless...
, although this is sometimes confused with the neuter grammatical gender
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
.
Proponents of gender neutrality may support public policies designed to eliminate gender distinctions, such as favoring same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
on the belief that society should not limit the roles of husband or wife based on gender. Other controversial views may include support of gender-neutral toilet
Gender-neutral toilet
A gender-neutral toilet is a public toilet that is available for use by all genders and sexes.Sex-separated public toilets are a source of difficulty for some people...
s, with public restrooms being available without distinguishing the gender of the person using them. However, it has been observed that gender neutrality in the law has changed the nature of custody disputes, making it less likely that women will be awarded custody of their children in the event of a divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
.