Friday, October 19, 2018
'Some people feel excluded': PC brigade insist the word 'guys' is sexist towards women – and suggest a ridiculous word to replace it
This is a rather odd story to come out of Australia. Like the British we normally use "bloke" instead of "guy" -- and bloke refers only to men. In addressing a group of people we would normally use just "people". But TV has of course also made the American usage familiar
There have been calls for the word 'guys' to be banned from use in workplaces as it is sexist towards women. Critics of the word say it positions men as the 'default' and excludes women.
Linguist John Hajek from the University of Melbourne said the term should no longer be used, in order to stop offending women in the workplace - and suggests using 'hey all', 'everybody' or 'people'.
Diversity Council Australia chief executive Lisa Annese said some women feel excluded by the word 'guys'.
'The word ''guys'' can be used to mean both men and women - but not for everybody,' she told the ABC.
Ms Annese recommended using the word 'team' instead of 'guys' as it is more inclusive. '''Team'' is a completely inclusive term, and also it's not so formal that it sounds ridiculous,' she said.
'In the workplace, you cannot reasonably predict the impact that your words have on other people. If you're a leader and you're addressing a whole group of people, isn't it better to use a more accurate term?'
The word 'guys' was first used as a reference to Guy Fawkes but was then used to mean 'men' in the United States in the 1800s.
'In a business environment, you don't want to upset anyone (or) get a proportion of your workforce offside,' Mr Hajek said.
SOURCE
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5 comments:
How about forbidding communication completely - because you can never "reasonably predict the impact that your words have on other people."
This is the sort of namby-pamby eggshell walking bullcrap virtue signaling that just honks off the average person.
More than once, I have heard women refer to their group as guys.
I once (decades ago) saw an editorial by Mike Royco where he waxed long and hard about how "guys" could include women too. All through the article he utterly missed thinking about the simple word "gals" which is the female counterpart word to "guys".
If it's a mixed group say "gals and guys" or "guys and gals" (the latter will still upset the terminally frail).
This is much ado about NOTHING AT ALL. The next time someone brings it up, just heap scorn on them because they deserve it for being ignorant.
Another perfectly good alternative is to pick up a bit of useful Southern Slang and just say "Y'all" which has always been gender neutral.
Why is it that some groups want to change the meaning of words to suit themselves - but reject the actual common usages and meanings of other words when used by other groups?
This is not just a battle between the sexes - it is a battle over the dictionary!
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