Looking at the idea that science stems from about 500 B.C., with philosophers like Socrates, this example reveals that we currently find ourselves in an early stage in the revolution towards equality. To put this into perspective: a woman was recognized by the scientific community on this level just over a century ago. She won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. Marie Curie was the first woman who won a Nobel Prize. If we just take the revolution of science as an example, I bet that there are not a lot of women’s names popping up into your mind while thinking about historic developments. Women, on the contrary, had to come a long way to be as visible and meaningful as men in human history. Marie Curie the only female scientist at the Solvay Conference in 1927. The presence of male figures has always been leading in human society as leaders, as warriors, as heroes, as enemies and as messengers of religion to name a few. Looking at history, people have been discriminating each other based on various grounds like, for example, race, gender and sex. Even though we all live on the same planet, life is characterised by differences and inequality.
We live in different countries, we speak different languages, different dialects, we believe in different Gods, etcetera. We live in a heterogenous world, meaning that all different aspects of life are diverse rather than alike. However, the origin of people’s desire to use more gender-neutral language goes further than just this. For instance, employers train their employees to address others in a gender-neutral way, since it is no longer acceptable to assume that all people identify themselves as female or male. Why is this a relatively new way of conduct? What contributed to people’s current awareness regarding this topic? Which factors influence the development of this phenomenon? And how can we explain people’s different attitudes towards the use of more gender-neutral language? This article will dive into the roots of the debate about gender-neutral language use to create a better understanding of this phenomenon.Ĭurrently, growing efforts are put in the education and awareness of people to use more gender-neutral and therefore more inclusive language. We nowadays tend to pay more attention to the way we address people with the aim of preventing offence. Gender-neutral language has become an increasingly important topic of discussion over the past decades.
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