Neutering English Language Is A Mission Of The Foolish

Sat., Dec. 2, 1995

Allan C. Heller Special To Opinion

I was walking through Gonzaga University’s Crosby Student Center the other day when I saw a sign urging students to sign up for the upcoming “freshperson” retreat.

Freshperson … are you kidding me?

Is somebody honestly trying to imply that the word freshman refers only to first-year college students who are male? Are there people at GU who honestly think that the word freshman excludes women, or is in any other way not gender-neutral? If so, then I would like to introduce you, the reader, to some flat-out ignorant people.

Psychological research has demonstrated that when supposed neutral words such as he, him or man are used in a non-gender specific context, people do associate these situations to men rather than women. When you think of a chairman of a company, you think of a man in a three-piece suit with a big corner office in a downtown high-rise. Likewise, NASA’s manned space flight program does not make you immediately think of female astronauts.

In those and similar situations, I support the use of gender-neutral language, such as calling a policeman a police officer or a fireman a firefighter. It would be just as easy for NASA to have a program dedicated to human space exploration, and a female CEO should always be addressed as the chairwoman.

Let us not go overboard, however. When truly neutral words appear in common everyday language it is not necessary to change them all to person. Should people whose last name is Buckman or Wiseman be expected to have their names changed to Buckperson or Wiseperson? No, of course not. That would be ridiculous. Should police be required to conduct a personhunt for a wanted fugitive? Should we look up in the sky at night and point out to our children the person in the moon? Hell, while we’re at it, let’s change woman to woperson, and female to feperson.

The point is that people need to get off the hypersensitivity wagon and focus their energy into worthwhile causes. If you support the designation of the class of 1999 as this year’s freshpeople, then maybe you should spend your time figuring out why you are such a fool.

MEMO: Your Turn is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a Your Turn column for consideration, contact Rebecca Nappi at 459-5496 or Doug Floyd at 459-5466 or write Your Turn, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615.

Your Turn is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a Your Turn column for consideration, contact Rebecca Nappi at 459-5496 or Doug Floyd at 459-5466 or write Your Turn, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615.