Gender Neutrality in language at the EU?

[Possessed Freak]

Linky

The politically correct rules also mean a ban on Continental titles, such as Madame and Mademoiselle, Frau and Fraulein and Senora and Senorita.

Guidance issued in a new 'Gender-Neutral Language' pamphlet instead orders politicians to address female members by their full name only.

Officials have also ordered that 'sportsmen' be called 'athletes', 'statesmen' be referred to as 'political leaders' and even that 'synthetic' or 'artificial' be used instead of 'man-made'.

The guidance lists banned terms for describing professions, including fireman, air hostess, headmaster, policeman, salesman, manageress, cinema usherette and male nurse.

However MEPs are still allowed to refer to 'midwives' as there is no accepted male version of the job description.

Man this is weird...
I mean, Huperson, this is weird.

Who the heck is offended by the term man made? Midwives is acceptable though, but I guess that could be because a wife can be male with some sort of voodoo liberal agenda.

And as the summery says, I truly thought saying Miss to young ladies was flattering. It will be hard to get the doorpersons to greet people now.

 

[OCGuy]

I'm glad this is what the EU has time to tackle with all of the problems going on in the world right now.

 

[n yusef]

Many women don't like the terms Miss and Mrs. I wouldn't like my marital status displayed every time people address me either.

Ms. is correct.

Also, "lady" isn't appropriate, unless you also refer to men as "gentleman."

 

[AreaCode707]

Ms is marriage-neutral. I prefer Miss and Mrs when being addressed, although I use Ms when addressing others. Ms is just so PC sounding.

<--- Mrs.

[edit] I preferred Miss when I was unmarried too.

 

[Possessed Freak]

I wonder if they banned the terms King/Queen/Duke/Duchess and all those pesky gender related royal titles?

 

[Jaskalas]

Originally posted by: Ocguy31
I'm glad this is what the EU has time to tackle with all of the problems going on in the world right now.

I suppose they are just envious of China's censorship.

 

[HeXploiT]

Originally posted by: Possessed Freak
Linky

The politically correct rules also mean a ban on Continental titles, such as Madame and Mademoiselle, Frau and Fraulein and Senora and Senorita.

Guidance issued in a new 'Gender-Neutral Language' pamphlet instead orders politicians to address female members by their full name only.

Officials have also ordered that 'sportsmen' be called 'athletes', 'statesmen' be referred to as 'political leaders' and even that 'synthetic' or 'artificial' be used instead of 'man-made'.

The guidance lists banned terms for describing professions, including fireman, air hostess, headmaster, policeman, salesman, manageress, cinema usherette and male nurse.

However MEPs are still allowed to refer to 'midwives' as there is no accepted male version of the job description.

Man this is weird...

Bigot. Don't call me man I'm a person.

 

[Possessed Freak]

Originally posted by: HeXploiT
Bigot. Don't call me man I'm a person.

You quoted out of context. I corrected my oafishness in the next sentence. I will now refer to you as a huperson.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

A manhole cover shall heretofore be referred to as a metallic rounded elevated sewer access entry point disc. No more sexism in our sewage access entry point covering devices!

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: n yusef
I wouldn't like my marital status displayed every time people address me either.

Do you like your status and education displayed every time people address you? By using "Mr. n yusef" you are already lower than me, "Dr. Dullard". And I'm lower than "President Obama". Why is it acceptable (to most people) to designate status and education, but not marriage?

And this neutrality crap needs to end. We have "male" which means someone with an X and Y chromosome, we have "female" which means someone with two X chromosomes, and we have "man" which means human. The word "man" usually does NOT indicate gender. "Fireman" does not say "male who puts out fires". No, instead, it says "human who puts out fires". Problem solved.

 

[Albatross]

mental ilness and thirst of power often go together...
the EU is full of ideologues,mainly on the left:watching euronews you would think that we are preocuppied ONLY by social justice,global warming,gay rights,social security,american "fascism" etc.
such a great civilization devoured by cretinous mandarins...

 

[dainthomas]

Originally posted by: albatross
mental ilness and thirst of power often go together...
the EU is full of ideologues,mainly on the left:watching euronews you would think that we are preocuppied ONLY by social justice,global warming,gay rights,social security,american "fascism" etc.
such a great civilization devoured by cretinous HUmandarins...

fixed

 

[Fear No Evil]

They should call EU people by what they really are.. Commie Terrorists

 

[n yusef]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: n yusef
I wouldn't like my marital status displayed every time people address me either.

Do you like your status and education displayed every time people address you? By using "Mr. n yusef" you are already lower than me, "Dr. Dullard". And I'm lower than "President Obama". Why is it acceptable (to most people) to designate status and education, but not marriage?

And this neutrality crap needs to end. We have "male" which means someone with an X and Y chromosome, we have "female" which means someone with two X chromosomes, and we have "man" which means human. The word "man" usually does NOT indicate gender. "Fireman" does not say "male who puts out fires". No, instead, it says "human who puts out fires". Problem solved.

It's sexist that women's marital status is displayed but men's isn't. Woman can become doctors and (hypothetically) president. Men cannot be called addressed in a way that identifies them as married.

The word "man" meaning "human" is a product of the patriarchal society that we're trying to fight. Occupations have man in their names because until recently, women could not have those roles. A century ago, all firefighters were men. So the word fireman was accurate. Now, with women in the workforce, gendered words are not accurate. They imply that those jobs are for men only.

If "man" means "human," but "woman" means "female human," men are superior to women. People who believe in gender equality obviously can't support that definition. When people get married, is it a human (man) marrying a wife, or a man marrying a woman?

Just because something is traditional, doesn't mean it has to be accepted.

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: n yusef

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: n yusef
I wouldn't like my marital status displayed every time people address me either.

Do you like your status and education displayed every time people address you? By using "Mr. n yusef" you are already lower than me, "Dr. Dullard". And I'm lower than "President Obama". Why is it acceptable (to most people) to designate status and education, but not marriage?

And this neutrality crap needs to end. We have "male" which means someone with an X and Y chromosome, we have "female" which means someone with two X chromosomes, and we have "man" which means human. The word "man" usually does NOT indicate gender. "Fireman" does not say "male who puts out fires". No, instead, it says "human who puts out fires". Problem solved.

It's sexist that women's marital status is displayed but men's isn't. Woman can become doctors and (hypothetically) president. Men cannot be called addressed in a way that identifies them as married.

The word "man" meaning "human" is a product of the patriarchal society that we're trying to fight. Occupations have man in their names because until recently, women could not have those roles. A century ago, all firefighters were men. So the word fireman was accurate. Now, with women in the workforce, gendered words are not accurate. They imply that those jobs are for men only.

If "man" means "human," but "woman" means "female human," men are superior to women. People who believe in gender equality obviously can't support that definition. When people get married, is it a human (man) marrying a wife, or a man marrying a woman?

Just because something is traditional, doesn't mean it has to be accepted.

I'm female and I think the important step was allowing women to be in the jobs they choose, to take or not take on a man's last name, to be called Ms in the marriage-neutral form, and to generally be equal in the real world to males. The language in question is irrelevant to my experiences and accomplishments in the world today. It does not affect me negatively. To artificially force language change suggests that we can pretend the past never happened and robs us (all humanity) of important parts of our history.

 

[n yusef]

Originally posted by: AreaCode707

Originally posted by: n yusef

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: n yusef
I wouldn't like my marital status displayed every time people address me either.

Do you like your status and education displayed every time people address you? By using "Mr. n yusef" you are already lower than me, "Dr. Dullard". And I'm lower than "President Obama". Why is it acceptable (to most people) to designate status and education, but not marriage?

And this neutrality crap needs to end. We have "male" which means someone with an X and Y chromosome, we have "female" which means someone with two X chromosomes, and we have "man" which means human. The word "man" usually does NOT indicate gender. "Fireman" does not say "male who puts out fires". No, instead, it says "human who puts out fires". Problem solved.

It's sexist that women's marital status is displayed but men's isn't. Woman can become doctors and (hypothetically) president. Men cannot be called addressed in a way that identifies them as married.

The word "man" meaning "human" is a product of the patriarchal society that we're trying to fight. Occupations have man in their names because until recently, women could not have those roles. A century ago, all firefighters were men. So the word fireman was accurate. Now, with women in the workforce, gendered words are not accurate. They imply that those jobs are for men only.

If "man" means "human," but "woman" means "female human," men are superior to women. People who believe in gender equality obviously can't support that definition. When people get married, is it a human (man) marrying a wife, or a man marrying a woman?

Just because something is traditional, doesn't mean it has to be accepted.

I'm female and I think the important step was allowing women to be in the jobs they choose, to take or not take on a man's last name, to be called Ms in the marriage-neutral form, and to generally be equal in the real world to males. The language in question is irrelevant to my experiences and accomplishments in the world today. It does not affect me negatively. To artificially force language change suggests that we can pretend the past never happened and robs us (all humanity) of important parts of our history.

Women still are not equal to men. Do you know that your male co-workers make 30 cents more than for for every dollar? Have you noticed how women get blamed for rape and domestic violence (Rihanna being a recent example)?

Getting rid of patriarchal language isn't robbing humanity of history, it's making the future better.

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: n yusef

Originally posted by: AreaCode707

Originally posted by: n yusef

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: n yusef
I wouldn't like my marital status displayed every time people address me either.

Do you like your status and education displayed every time people address you? By using "Mr. n yusef" you are already lower than me, "Dr. Dullard". And I'm lower than "President Obama". Why is it acceptable (to most people) to designate status and education, but not marriage?

And this neutrality crap needs to end. We have "male" which means someone with an X and Y chromosome, we have "female" which means someone with two X chromosomes, and we have "man" which means human. The word "man" usually does NOT indicate gender. "Fireman" does not say "male who puts out fires". No, instead, it says "human who puts out fires". Problem solved.

It's sexist that women's marital status is displayed but men's isn't. Woman can become doctors and (hypothetically) president. Men cannot be called addressed in a way that identifies them as married.

The word "man" meaning "human" is a product of the patriarchal society that we're trying to fight. Occupations have man in their names because until recently, women could not have those roles. A century ago, all firefighters were men. So the word fireman was accurate. Now, with women in the workforce, gendered words are not accurate. They imply that those jobs are for men only.

If "man" means "human," but "woman" means "female human," men are superior to women. People who believe in gender equality obviously can't support that definition. When people get married, is it a human (man) marrying a wife, or a man marrying a woman?

Just because something is traditional, doesn't mean it has to be accepted.

I'm female and I think the important step was allowing women to be in the jobs they choose, to take or not take on a man's last name, to be called Ms in the marriage-neutral form, and to generally be equal in the real world to males. The language in question is irrelevant to my experiences and accomplishments in the world today. It does not affect me negatively. To artificially force language change suggests that we can pretend the past never happened and robs us (all humanity) of important parts of our history.

Women still are not equal to men. Do you know that your male co-workers make 30 cents more than for for every dollar? Have you noticed how women get blamed for rape and domestic violence (Rihanna being a recent example)?

Getting rid of patriarchal language isn't robbing humanity of history, it's making the future better.

Your statistic about pay is hyperbolic and selective and only accurate using over-generalized data. I will counter with this. (Admittedly my selected quotes were designed to present my side of the picture. The article presents data on both sides.)

http://blogs.payscale.com/ask_...4/men_vs_women_sa.html

Do women earn less than men on the pay equity table? According to money.cnn.com, the oft-quoted "77 cents" sounds like women are earning less than men are to do exactly the same job. This gender gap in wage earning stat is from a 2004 study by the Census Bureau, which was actually a comparison of median earnings of working men and women who clocked in at least 35 hours per week. It didn?t compare men and women working the same job, as rhetoric often suggests, but rather, median income from any job.

As reported by money.cnn.com, Warren Farrell, author of Why Men Earn More: The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gap ? and What Women Can Do About It, believes this is a case of comparable pay versus equal pay, or apples and oranges. He says men are more likely to make life-decisions that will lead to a higher annual salary. He says males are more apt (than women) to relocate or travel for work, take on more dangerous jobs (over 90 percent of workplace deaths are reportedly men), work in the difficult (read boring) sciences, seek jobs that require financial risk and work jobs in unpleasant environments.

In contrast, he says, "women commonly prefer jobs with shorter and more flexible hours to accommodate the demands of family. Compared to men, [the majority of] women generally favor jobs that involve little danger, no travel and good social skills. Such jobs generally pay less.? For women who earn over $100,000 per year, Farrell says they are more likely [than men at the same pay] to give up a portion of pay to spend more time with their families. Of course, not all women choose to forgo pay, as my post on top paid female executives discussed.

In some careers, Farrell says women actually earn more than their male counterparts do, and he's not just talking about the field of modeling. According to Farrell, the median salaries of women exceeded that of men's by at least 5 percent, and in some careers, up to 43 percent in 39 occupations. Some of the 39 professions include: sales engineers, statisticians, legislators, transportation workers, automotive service technicians and mechanics, speech-language pathologists and library assistants.

Women in the culture by and large are no longer blamed for rape and violence. You go put a post in OT about a friend getting raped and you will find 99% of the responses to be sympathetic and horrified, not "she deserved it."

Attitudes have been adjusted, fair hiring/compensation practices and penalties are in place; women are no longer disadvantaged by virtue of their gender alone.

 

[sactoking]

Originally posted by: n yusef
If "man" means "human," but "woman" means "female human," men are superior to women.

If "square" means "four sided object with opposite sides being parallel and all four sides of equal length" and "rectangle" means "four sided object with opposite sides being parallel and opposite sides of equal length", does that make squares superior to rectangles?

Edited for spelling (not Aaron or Tori).

 

[Dari]

I noticed this when reading some European paper. Instead of saying "husband", "wife", "girlfriend", or "boyfriend", they just say "partner". Makes me think the subject is gay.

 

[nCred]

So, these are some recommendations for the members of the EU parliament, it's stupid but what's the big deal?

 

[n yusef]

Originally posted by: Dari
I noticed this when reading some European paper. Instead of saying "husband", "wife", "girlfriend", or "boyfriend", they just say "partner". Makes me think the subject is gay.

A lot of people use "partner" to describe a long-term committed relationship. If you've been with someone for fifteen years, she isn't your girlfriend. Out of solidarity for gay couples who cannot get married, married straights have taken to using it too.

 

[zephyrprime]

This is how you know Europe isn't going anywhere. They're caring about stupid stuff like this and actually believe in all the PC nonsense when they have a real problem with neo-facists.

 

[Moonbeam]

Originally posted by: nCred
So, these are some recommendations for the members of the EU parliament, it's stupid but what's the big deal?

The world is evolving and as it does the Neanderthals gather together to whine and beat their drums to morn the death of their relevancy.

 

[Moonbeam]

Originally posted by: zephyrprime
This is how you know Europe isn't going anywhere. They're caring about stupid stuff like this and actually believe in all the PC nonsense when they have a real problem with neo-facists.

You need to look at yourself more and others less. What you call PC is Neanderthal incorrect. You have the exact same problem.

 

[LtPage1]

Originally posted by: Possessed Freak
Linky

The politically correct rules also mean a ban on Continental titles, such as Madame and Mademoiselle, Frau and Fraulein and Senora and Senorita.

Guidance issued in a new 'Gender-Neutral Language' pamphlet instead orders politicians to address female members by their full name only.

Officials have also ordered that 'sportsmen' be called 'athletes', 'statesmen' be referred to as 'political leaders' and even that 'synthetic' or 'artificial' be used instead of 'man-made'.

The guidance lists banned terms for describing professions, including fireman, air hostess, headmaster, policeman, salesman, manageress, cinema usherette and male nurse.

However MEPs are still allowed to refer to 'midwives' as there is no accepted male version of the job description.

Man this is weird...
I mean, Huperson, this is weird.

Who the heck is offended by the term man made? Midwives is acceptable though, but I guess that could be because a wife can be male with some sort of voodoo liberal agenda.

And as the summery says, I truly thought saying Miss to young ladies was flattering. It will be hard to get the doorpersons to greet people now.

I think "Miss" has been insulting since the '70s. Why should women broadcast their marital status in front of their names? I do think it's silly to mandate this sort of thing, but calling attention to language like this is a good thing.