Degrading the Humanity of All Involved
To the editor:
Learning a new name for someone can be hard, new pronouns, even
moreso. Gender-neutral pronouns seem to vex more than most, though the
grammar has long been a part of our language.
An easy way to remember to use gender-neutral pronouns is to pretend like
you don’t know the gender of the person you’re talking about. (e.g. Someone
left their car keys behind. They’ll come back soon.)
How the media talk about gender can shift societal conversations
toward understanding — or away from it. Because language is constantly
evolving, policy sometimes lags behind cultural acceptance, but
journalism needs to stay at the forefront of major ideas, including
still-developing concepts of gender expression and identity.
Most media do not currently have explicit gender-inclusive policies
for their coverage. Accidentally using incorrect names, pronouns,
and/or gender indicators to describe a person is going to happen, but
multiple accidents eventually reveal a choice to not extend the most
basic standard of civility, degrading the humanity of all involved.
That is not acceptable protocol for news organizations.
It costs nothing to actively acknowledge and uphold the dignity of
everyone in our community by using precise language, but the cost of
not doing so is our own dehumanization. Let local media outlets know
equitable and accurate coverage of all genders is essential for any
trustworthy news source.
Em Christie
Moorhead
