This article will define gender sensitive language and illustrate its importance in communication, especially business writing. In addition, this article examines the reasons for gender sensitive language and gives some examples to gender biased terminology.

Gender, Gender Sensitive Language, Gender Neutral Terms

Bodine, A. (1975). Androcentrism in prescriptive grammar: singular ‘they’, sex-indefinite ‘he’, and ‘he or she’1. Language in society, 4(2), 129-146.

Eagly, A. H. (1987). John M. MacEachran memorial lecture series; 1985. Sex differences in social behavior: A social-role interpretation. Hillsdale, NJ, US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Foertsch, J., & Gernsbacher, M. A. (1997). In search of gender neutrality: Is singular they a cognitively efficient substitute for generic he?. Psychological science, 8(2), 106-111. doi: 10.1111/j.1467- 9280.1997.tb00691.x

Gabriel, U. & Gygax, P. (2016). Gender and linguistic sexism. In Giles, H. & Maass, A. (eds). Advances in intergroup communication (pp. 177–192). New York: Peter Lang.

Gabriel, U., Gygax, P. M., & Kuhn, E. A. (2018). Neutralising linguistic sexism: Promising but cumbersome?. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 21(5), 844-858. doi: 10.1177/1368430218771742.

Hegarty, P., Mollin, S., & Foels, R. (2016). Binomial word order and social status.

Hegarty, P., & Bruckmüller, S. (2013). Asymmetric explanations of group differences: Experimental evidence of Foucault’s disciplinary power. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(3), 176-186. doi:10.1111/spco.2013.7.issue-3

Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1996). On the reality of cognitive illusions.

Parzuchowski, M., Bocian, K., & Gygax, P. (2016). Sizing up objects: The effect of diminutive forms on positive mood, value, and size judgments. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1452. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01452

Slobin, D. I. (2003). Language and thought online: Cognitive consequences of linguistic relativity. Language in mind: Advances in the study of language and thought, 157192.

Stout, J. G., & Dasgupta, N. (2011). When he doesn’t mean you: Gender-exclusive language as ostracism. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(6), 757-769.

Viennot, E. (2014). Non, le masculin ne l’emporte pas sur le féminin! Editions IXE.

Wyrobková, A., Gygax, P., & Macek, P. (2015). Human and man side by side, woman trapped in a different reality: word associations in Czech. Ceskoslovenska Psychologie, 59(1).

https://www.unescwa.org/sites/default/files/services/doc/guidelines_gender-sensitive_language_e-a.pdf

Guidelines for Non-Sexist Use of Language from the American Philosophical Association-https://www.apaonline.org/page/nonsexist

General Principles for Reducing Bias from the American Psychology Association - https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/bias-free-language/general-principles

Non-Sexist Language Reloaded, University of Lancaster (RiGLS) - https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/media/lancasteruniversity/content-assets/images/athena-swan/BrochureSexistLanguage_final.pdf