Gender-Inclusive Language

Androcentrism pertains to a tendency to view humanness through the lens of masculinity. This tendency is reflected in language, in which there is ample evidence that words used to represent all people are either grammatically or semantically biased to represent predominantly men. In this chapter, we describe the most overt example of androcentrism in language, that is: the (false) masculine generic. It is the most prominent example of androcentric language in which grammatically masculine words are used. They are aimed to represent everyone, regardless of their gender, yet discriminatory effects of such language are common. We then describe the current state of knowledge regarding reformatory attempts to change language that first focused on women, but then expanded to include diverse gender expressions. We also present considerations of the effectiveness of such changes. Finally, we review evidence that points out both cognitive and attitude-based obstacles in introducing changes in language and how these obstacles were addressed in intervention studies aimed at promoting inclusive language.