Gender
Third-person pronouns
- English pronouns are only gender-specific in the third person singular. When a person's gender is binary, use she, her and her(s) for female gender and he, him and his for male gender.
- When the person's gender is not relevant, as is usually the case for insitutional texts at our universities, use they, them and their(s).
Only one student submitted their assignment on time. Before 15 October, each tutor must speak to the students that they have been assigned. - Alternatively, rephrase the sentence so that the pronoun is unnecessary or pluralise the subject.
Only one student submitted the assignment on time. Before 15 October, all tutors must speak to the students that they have been assigned.
Jobs and roles
- Most job titles do not distinguish between binary or non-binary options. For example, engineer, teacher, lecturer, doctor and architect can be used to refer to anybody. However, in many cases, man has traditionally been used as a suffix (for example, postman, policeman or chairman). More recently, the suffix woman has also been used (postwoman, policewoman or chairwoman), but it is now generally accepted that there is no need for gender-specific terms and that more gender-neutral terms such as the ones below are preferable.
barman/barmaid bartender businessman business executive cameraman camera operator chairman chair congressman congressional representative delivery man courier, messenger draftsman drafter fireman fire fighter foreman supervisor freshman fresher, first-year student ombudsman ombuds officer policeman police officer salesman salesperson, sales representative sportsman athlete steward/stewardess flight attendant weatherman weather forecaster workman worker
- When referring to a particular person, then, try to avoid binary options if there is no need to be gender-specific. Therefore, not
Chairwoman Alonso apologised for her absence.
but
Chair Alonso apologised for her absence.
When referring to the position rather than the person occupying it, always use the gender-neutral version(s).
| A new chair must be elected before the Senate's inaugural session. |
Man as a reference to people in general
- The word man has traditionally been used to refer not only to an adult male but also to the whole human race. Likewise, it has been used as a suffix, as described above, and a prefix (e.g. manpower) in a generic sense. Nevertheless, it is now generally accepted that these uses are sexist, exclude women and reinforce gender stereotypes so we recommend that they be substituted with gender-neutral terms such as the one below.
Common gender-neutral alternatives to generic man
man people, humanity, humankind man's achievements human achievements the man in the street the average person the working man the average person primitive man primitive humans
Alternatives to words with man as a prefix
| man hole | maintenance hole |
| man hours | work hours |
| man-made | synthetic, manufactured |
| mankind | humanity, humankind |
| manpower | work force, human resources |
Other words containing man do not need to be changed because they are not compounds incorporating the modern gender-specific word man but derivations of the Latin word manus (hand).
| manage | manufacture | manipulate |
Likewise, there is no need to find an alternative for the word human because it does not finish with the suffix man but derives from the Latin word humanus.
Honorifics
- Men have traditionally been addressed as Mr and women as Mrs and Miss. The honorifics for women refer to their marital status: Mrs for married women and Miss for singe women. If you have no reason to talk about a woman's marital status, use the honorific Ms.
- Generally speaking, however, most other honorifics (Professor, Doctor, Rector, etc.) are gender-neutral.
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