Showing posts with label language. Show all posts
Showing posts with label language. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

[resources: a queer lexicon and an inclusionary]

image of the letters A to G, underlined, in blue. To illustrate idea of jumping to an alphabetic section in a dictionary.


Here's a helpful resource from we create space:

The Queer Allyship Lexicon, with over 300 terms defined.

"An Intersectional LGBTQ+ Glossary of Terms

Language can shape environments, and words can be an integral tool for creating culture change and inclusive workplaces. We must all actively and continually educate ourselves as we create a path to progress."

Check it out at

https://www.wecreatespace.co/glossary




Here's another helpful resource on being more inclusive in the words we choose. This is from the Government of Canada: 

"The Inclusionary contains a list of gendered words, along with suggestions for inclusive solutions. It was designed to provide writers, editors and translators with a starting point for writing inclusively in English, in accordance with the techniques outlined in the Guidelines for Inclusive Writing."


Here's an example of one of the 105 words they have included:

Due to length, full alt text for this image is provided in the body of the post, after the link to the Inclusionary.

Check it out at:

https://www.noslangues-ourlanguages.gc.ca/en/writing-tips-plus/inclusionary



Alt text for screenshot:

man-hour (noun)

Examples and solutions:

Gendered sentence: "The estimated time required was 90 man-hours."

Inclusive solutions:

  • The estimated time required was 90 person-hours
  • The estimated time required was 90 work hours.
  • The estimated time required was 90 hours of work.
  • The estimated time required was 90 hours of labour.

Friday, October 22, 2021

[gender decoder for job ads]


Words are words... and we tend to associate some of them with men and others with women. 

Image showing two lists of words. On left, the heading says Masculine coded words in this ad. The list has: "competing, active, challenge, individuals, leader, leading, analysis, and driven". The right side is headed "Feminine-coded words in this ad." The list has: "commitments (2 times), understand (3 times), together, responsive, supportive, enthusiastic, cheerleader"


If you are writing a job description or a job ad, you can test out the associations for the words using the new (and free) Gender Decoder for Job Ads:

Note: this is not about whether an ad uses "he/him/his" and "she//her/her" instead of "they/them". It's about words that are typically in English associated with masculinity or femininity.

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

a practical guide to the new world of pronouns


Here's a great learning opportunity that I've created for you -- a practical guide to the new world of pronouns. 

This 36 minute video covers key topics like:

  • Correct Pronouns Matter
  • People Who Might Use Other Pronouns
  • Pronouns for the New World We Live In
  • Getting Practical About Sharing Pronouns
  • Messing up with Grace

Link to watch directly at YouTube.com: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdtVLgU6OxA&t=6s

Friday, October 11, 2019

conference emcee


Hey guys! As good as some of the other resources I highlight have been, I know you've all been waiting for another original cartoon from me -- and here it is!


men's conference cartoon by rob goetze. Image of speaker at podium, welcoming participants: "Gentlemen, welcome to our conference!" Some women in the crowd say, "Hey, what about us women?" Emcee says, "Oh, so sorry. Hey guys, welcome to our conference!" Woman says, "Now that's better."

I work in an office environment where the majority of staff are female, and "guys" is the most common form of address in a meeting of any size. What's worse is "your guys's" as in, "I read your guys's report...".

I remember when the transition from "man" to "human" and from "mankind" to "humankind" was taking place. It was hard for some people to grasp how using the same word for both "all members of a group" and "one specific type of member of a group" should not be done, how it made that one specific type of member the standard for the whole group.

Imagine if there were four kinds of dogs: German Shepherds, Dachshunds, Shih Tzu Bichons, and Dogs. How would that work?

Alternative words to use in welcoming remarks, greetings and more:
Colleagues
Folks
Kin
Friends
Everyone
Participants
Team
Occupational titles as applicable (I.e., Teachers, for a teachers' conference, Social Workers for a social work conference, etc.)
Fellow workers (note that "fellow" here is an adjective, not the noun for a guy. ...)
Members of our community
Neighbours
People
(Or, simply skip "Guys" and better alternatives, and just say "Welcome to our conference!")

Here's some interesting ones shared in a graphic:

Thursday, September 12, 2019

[standing up for people being called what they want to be called...]


Here's an interesting clip from a TV show, which nicely shows the challenges of challenging other people when they use derogatory and disrespectful terms for others. Ironic though not surprising that the person doing the challenging is a QPOC (queer person of colour).

Watch how this discussion evolves, and some of the classic responses that those challenged pull out.


If the tweet and embedded video do not show up above, click here.

Read CBC's article "We need to talk about the dinner party scene in the Tales of the City reboot"

Thursday, September 06, 2018

[new language of gender]



Here is a well-presented slideshare on the new language of gender. From the introductory slide:
Language Matters

Gender used to be viewed through binary terms: male and female, masculine and feminine. The new language of gender breaks out of that binary system in favor of blurred, fluid identities across a gender spectrum. To be culturally literate now demands knowing how to speak the new language of gender and knowing the difference between terms like sex, gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
Click here to watch the slideshare and learn more


Monday, January 26, 2015

[you don't say... campaign by duke university]


"I don't say Illegal Alien" image. You Don't Say campaign by Duke students.


"You Don’t Say? is a campaign founded by senior Daniel Kort and juniors Anuj Chhabra, Christie Lawrence and Jay Sullivan that aims to raise student awareness about the offensive nature of phrases and slurs used in everyday conversation through photographs shared using an online campaign." (source)

The latest part of this campaign features 41 student-athletes, who were each asked to choose a phrase that mattered to them.


Check out a lot more photos.
Additional photos of Cornell University students doing a series of similar ads.

Read more background info.

Follow on twitter.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

ideological colonization


the pope and ideological colonization. cartoon by rob g


His Holiness Pope Francis, speaking in the Philippines last week (January 2015), expressed concerns about ideological colonization. The Associated Press reports:
Speaking about the regulation of family size, the pope said:

African bishops, in particular, have long complained about how progressive, Western ideas about birth control and gay rights are increasingly being imposed on the developing world by groups, institutions or individual nations, often as a condition for development aid.

"Every people deserves to conserve its identity without being ideologically colonized," Francis said.

"... When imposed conditions come from imperial colonizers, they search to make people lose their own identity and make a sameness," he said. "This is ideological colonization."
GLAAD also reports:
Pope Francis came out with his strongest comments against marriage equality, calling it, "ideological colonization that we have to be careful about that is trying to destroy the family."

Ironically, the Roman Catholic Church and other denominations has been engaging in ideological colonization for years, ever since they first sent missionaries out.

Oops. Of course, we don't call it ideological colonization, but evangelism, spreading the gospel, reaching the lost. Which reminds me of how easy it is to consider something good when I do it, but bad when others do it.

Take, for example, how the Unites States provides funding, training and weapons to "freedom fighters" in some countries, while at the same time fighting against terrorism in other parts of the world. The difference between freedom fighters and terrorists? Some would say it's only a few letters and a matter of perspective.


"Every people deserves to conserve its identity without being ideologically colonized"

Think about this statement. If we take Pope Francis' words seriously and put aside contradictory actions, what might this mean in our relationships with others, both individually and corporately? How can we interact with others in ways that are full of humility and mutuality?

Thursday, January 15, 2015

[thoughts on ableist language and why it matters (resource)]

ableist language and why it matters
You might never have even thought that sentences like "He was blind to the realities of his flaws"  or "Legislative changes crippled the economy" could be offensive to some people, but they are.

Ableist language is the use of words like lame, blind, crippling, retarded, and more to describe people or situations that have nothing to do with ability. I recently came across a well-written article on ableist language, written by Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg.

She addresses ten questions about why ableist language matters. Here is one of the questions she addresses:

5. I would never use the N-word because people of color are part of an oppressed group. But disabled people aren't really oppressed. Are they?

Yes, disabled people are members of an oppressed group, and disability rights are a civil rights issue. Disabled people are assaulted at higher rates, live in poverty at higher rates, and are unemployed at higher rates than nondisabled people.

We face widespread exclusion, discrimination, and human rights violations. For an example of what some of the issues are, please take some time over at the Disability Social History Project.
From 10 Questions About Why Ableist Language matters, Answered (source)

What I really appreciate about the article is Cohen-Rottenberg's grasp of the deeper issues behind these questions, including historical contexts and narratives, and the succinct and clear way she responds to them. Check out the rest of the article to learn more!

Monday, January 20, 2014

doublespeak

Doublespeak is language that deliberately disguises, distorts, or reverses the meaning of words. Doublespeak may take the form of euphemisms (e.g., "downsizing" for layoffs, "servicing the target" for bombing [1]), in which case it is primarily meant to make the truth sound more palatable. It may also refer to intentional ambiguity in language or to actual inversions of meaning (for example, naming a state of war "peace"). In such cases, doublespeak disguises the nature of the truth. Doublespeak is most closely associated with political language.

Here's some words of the pulpit that can be doublespeak:

doublespeak, cartoon by robg

Speaking about gay marriage, a well-known pastor recently said, “Don’t take a term and and make it something different. Orwell talked about doublespeak, where words mean the exact opposite of what they used to mean.”

He seems to be suggesting that the way gay people use the word "marriage" is the exact opposite of what marriage "really means" or used to mean. This handy chart shows that there are very few differences between the two, making me wonder who is really the one "doublespeaking":

comparison traditional marriage gay marriage
two people yes yes
life-long commitment yes yes
mutual relationship yes yes
love yes yes
one man and one woman yes no
traditionally based on ownership yes no


Monday, December 10, 2012

[does a conservative belief have to translate into hateful attitudes and behaviours?]

Over the past year the news has had various stories about evangelical pastors with conservative perspectives on same-sex relations who are saying hateful things. Even extreme hateful things like "all gay and lesbian people should be rounded up and put inside an area with an electric fence and left to starve". And there are christians who you don't hear about, who snub their gay colleague or speak badly about their lesbian neighbours, or kick out their gay teenager. Granted, there are many pastors who are loving — but we don't hear much about them on the media.

Perhaps you are a christian who has a conservative or traditional view about homosexuality, yet you don't want to be mean and hateful to other people. Do you have to be? Does having a traditional or conservative view about same-sex relations have to go hand-in-hand with hating gay and lesbian people? Or is it possible to love others and be respectful of differences?

Wendy Gritter discusses this question in "A Study in Contrasts: how those with traditional views can speak publicly about homosexuality." The post offers two specific examples of people with traditional views of marriage: Dr. Richard Mouw who is the President of Fuller Seminary, and Kirk Cameron in an interview with Piers Morgan.  The specific context here is speaking in public about one's views, but the lessons can be applied when speaking and interacting individually as well. Wendy examines the ways in which they communicate and the attitudes which exist behind the words they spoke.

I did not listen to the Kirk Cameron interview, as I've heard enough similar things. But in light of Christian colleges and universities dealing with the question of same-sex relations, I did listen to the first 25 minutes of Dr. Mouw's address to the Fuller community, and while we have different theological perspectives, I respect the attitude of love, humility and generosity he showed as brought out in what he shared about conversations and interactions he has had with those who are part of a sexual minority.

What do you think? Does having a traditional or conservative view on homosexuality oblige a person to be hateful?

How can a person hold certain beliefs and yet act civilly – no, more than that – Christianly toward those who have different beliefs or who have taken a different path in life?



Thursday, November 29, 2012

what I wish our churches taught us...


From reactive to proactive. Where does your church land on this scale? When it comes to controversial matters like abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, and hell, many tend to be reactive, which means most of the time they ignore such matters. And then when there’s a pressing reason like proposed changes to legislation, an adult club renting the building next door, or a Rob Bell asking questions about heaven and hell, they marshal their resources, preach sermons, picket and boycott, and tweet tweets which they sometimes later regret.

A current example of this is the response churches are giving to the legalization of same-sex marriage in the U.S. or the granting of same-sex blessings in Canada, where gay marriage is already legal.

Take my church, for example.

 At its recent meeting, our diocese held a vote to allow the bishop to give permission to priests who want to provide a blessing to same-sex couples who are in civil marriages. To say it another way, if a legally married same-sex couple asks the priest to give them a blessing, the priest must first ask for the bishop’s permission. Note that this resolution does not oblige any priests to provide such blessings; it simply gives the bishop permission to say “yes” if a priest asks. Now, the church we attend officially has a conservative view on marriage and was not pleased that the vote passed, in fact by a significant margin. In response to this, the leadership discussed the matter at the church’s semi-annual meeting, and will have a task group consider what response to make.

They also discussed it with the youth. And when our children came home from a youth day, one of them expressed that they didn’t know why the church was making such a big deal about blessing people who love each other when there’s more important things like KONY2012 happening in the world.

Some people might suggest that the leadership needs to do a better job of explaining how this really is a significant issue, and that the church should have been proactive in teaching its beliefs more clearly before a resolution like this one came up.

I would suggest that there’s a bigger picture that’s being missed here. And while it involves being proactive, it’s not about clarifying “what’s right and what’s wrong” before it becomes critical. It’s about perspective, respect for others, and God’s heart for people.

Here are four things that I wish pastors and others in church  leadership were teaching, with some recommendations for each point:


1.  The reality that God loves gay and lesbian people

Of course we are told in church that God loves everyone. When said generally like this, it is easier to forget this reality when we encounter people we don’t like or who are different from us. But when it is said with a specific people group in mind, it has more impact and is harder to ignore.
  • State clearly that God loves lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Repeat on a regular basis.
  • Affirm that Jesus gave his life for gay people and straight people and transgender people and everyone else.
  • Emphasize that loving our neighbours includes loving LGBT neighbours, relatives, and colleagues. Give a similar emphasis to other particular neighbours depending on current events, your city or neighbourhood, etc. For example, emphasizing God’s love for Muslim neighbours would be particularly helpful after 9/11. The goal is not to single out a people group, but to emphasize God’s love for people whom we might find it easier to ignore or hate.
Related to this is the concept that the self of the other person matters more than my truth. As Miroslav Volf says, “I may not sacrifice the other at the altar of my truth. Jesus, who claimed to be the Truth, refused to use violence to ‘persuade’ those who did not recognize his truth.” (Exclusion and Embrace, page 272).

Monday, November 26, 2012

nothing nice to say


I'm sure my mother told me this in my childhood too, as the saying is definitely sunk deep into my brain. However, a reading of some of the cartoons on this blog might lead some to suspect that it hasn't sunk deep enough....

Then again, Ezekiel and the other prophets regularly said things which aren't nice. So why can't a regular guy like me, especially when it's for the purpose of provoking thinking about our attitudes and actions.

The balance? As Jamie Arpin-Ricci says, "The prophet rebuke must always point to the redemptive possibility." That's the challenge for me too, in writing this blog.

Monday, October 08, 2012

join the protest


Why do we not protest outside of seafood establishments? Why do we not excommunicate parishioners who dare to bring a shrimp ring to a church get together? After all, the Bible is pretty clear about seafood, and if we say we believe the Bible is the truth....

Obviously, we make choices about what parts are important and what parts aren't, what passages still apply to us and what passages don't.

So if we're choosing anyway, what stops us from choosing love?

Read another post about "why not choose love instead of hate."

Friday, August 03, 2012

culture war


Are we in a culture war?

What cultures are involved?

On a friend's blog, Jarred posted a comment which speaks to this:
Jarred said...
Emily: I would encourage you to beware of the Middle Ground Fallacy when it comes to speaking of the "culture war." After all, only one "side" of the "culture war" thinks of it in terms of being a "culture war" and has invested much time and effort in painting the other "side" as thinking in the same terms and behaving accordingly. The other "side" thinks of it in terms of struggling to gain the same human dignity and legal protections for all people.
May 16, 2012 10:10 AM  (source)
So there is the question of, "are we really in a culture war" or are Christians just not happy about no longer being in power. There is also the reality of the gap between what pastors and denominations believe and what the parishioners believe, and correspondingly, what each is willing to "fight" for.

 Ironically, in a world where the dominant perception of Christians is that we are judgemental and anti-gay, many evangelicals are rushing to support and promote Chick-fil-A now that its owner has publically stated that his company is against same-sex marriage. That's sure to help everyone to see and know that Jesus loves them no matter what!!



More reading: Some words for Christians on both sides of the Chick-fil-A war by Rachel Held Evans.

Friday, July 20, 2012

I'm gay unless...


Can people be themselves around those of us who are Christians?

Or do they feel they have to hide part of who they are, for fear of being laughed at, rejected, or otherwise mistreated?

If the cross around my neck is there because I have chosen to follow Jesus, will I follow Him in treating other people the same way he did?






On a related note, a pastor in Washington State has decided to reclaim the word gay -- to take it away from those who use it in ways related to sexual orientation and use it for the original meaning of happy and joyful.

He says he is "on a mission to take back words, phrases and symbols he believes groups, such as homosexual activists and other liberal organizations, have "hijacked" from the American lexicon." (source: christian post).

While he's at it, maybe he could "take back" some of the love and acceptance that these groups have hijacked from the church, 'cuz it sure seems that they have far more of it than some churches.

Monday, June 25, 2012

defining enemy


Turns out that one of the Bible verses about "enemies of God" was in the church lectionary, and pastor decided to preach about it. That's fine, until he made a "real-life application" which included determining who today are the enemies of God.

His words are hurting men and women in his congregation – for themselves or for a loved one. They may even feel that they have to choose between doing what the church thinks is right and what their hearts and conscience tell them to do.

What makes him think he can know? Does he see into people's hearts and minds?

How can our words and actions welcome others, and help them move closer to God?

Friday, May 04, 2012

defining love



Brian, in a comment at Bridging the Gap, says:
I'm reminded of one of my favorite lines from Ellen Degeneres. She was musing about the weird habit some people have of saying something insulting and then saying "just kidding" as if that somehow erases the insult. "You don't know how to kid properly," she quips, "we should both be laughing."

Sometimes I want to yell at the church, "You don't know how to love properly. We should both be feeling the love!"
Brian at conversations-on-generous-spaciousness March 24, 2012 12:03 PM
Who defines love? Just the person claiming to be loving? Or do those who are apparently being loved have a say?

Monday, March 12, 2012

defining anti-gay


The pastor and church doesn't treat lgbt people the same as straight people, yet claims to not be anti-gay. Do you agree? Does it matter how lgbt members of the congregation feel about this?

Who defines anti-gay — the powerful or the powerless? The privileged or the marginalized?

Compare this cartoon with the 'defining hate' cartoon — there it is pretty obvious that we wouldn't and shouldn't let the slave owner decide whether he is being hateful toward his slaves. Is it as easy to decide with this cartoon? While the overall situations are not parallel, do the same principles apply in terms of the minority being given a voice and the right to say whether they feel those in power are against them?