Feminist language reform
[6] Feminists attended conferences and, as a way of activism, they interrupted to point out they were not feeling included because of linguistic uses.
[15] Feminist language planning has more recently been instituted centrally in countries such as Sweden, Switzerland and Australia, with mixed results.
The introduction and widespread adoption, since 2000, of the word snippa for female genitalia is considered an example of successful feminist language reform in Swedish.
Noting that standard Swedish lacked an equivalent neutral term for female genitalia, social worker Anna Kosztovics began promoting the use of snippa in 2000.
Some language reformers directly work with identifying and changing sexist undertones and patriarchal vocabulary through a method called "linguistic disruption".
Controversial at the outset, it has gained wide acceptance in Sweden, is used in schools, and recently was added to dictionaries.
A study of Australian newspapers from 1992 and 1996 found that the word "chairman" was used to describe all people holding the position, including women.
This has concerned some language activists due to the fact that many important societal positions such as judge and professor possess the gender of male and are often referred to as he/him.
This facet of the German language is particularly important in Switzerland because it was historically used as a justification to restrict women's right to vote and pass the bar.
The government and other organizations have attempted to implement language feminization in the realms of policy making, teaching, advertising, etc.
For example, private Swiss radio and television broadcasts still generally use the generic-masculine form of words.
In the past, there was confusion when the job was held by a woman as the noun would still be treated as masculine although the position holder was feminine.
[27] Due to the fact that there are gendered distinctions in French nouns, employers must indicate that the job corresponds to either a man or a woman.
[11] Sheila Michaels is credited with popularizing Ms. as a default form of address for women regardless of their marital status.
[28][29] Kate Swift and Casey Miller co-wrote influential books and articles about sexism in the English language.
[34] In 1990, two important Toronto based newspapers, the Globe and Mail and the Star, modified their policies on sexist language in an effort to stop the usage of man as a general term.
[11] In Australia, there has been a promotion of "Ms." to take the place of "Miss" and "Mrs.", similar to the role of "Mr."[35] This title was meant to rectify gender imbalances, but met challenges as it was difficult to remove the other two widely utilized feminine titles and for all women to accept "Ms."[35] Both men and women play a role in this shift as people must accept utilizing "Ms." while others must accept being referred to as "Ms.," in order for this courtesy title to grow in popularity.
[36] Furthermore, in Australian English, the usage of the generic masculine pronoun has greatly decreased and has largely been replaced by the singular they in unscripted public speech.
[20] Previous language reform attempts to avoid sexist words or phrases were addressed in a symptomatic manner.
Many modern day feminists argue that this is ineffective because it does not address the root of the problem or make the large scale changes to the language that they feel are necessary.
[38] A major part of the theory focuses on when words or phrases make one gender, typically women, subjugated or invisible compared to the other.
[20] Feminist language theory also focuses on when words or phrases emphasize a break in gender norms.
Feminist language reform seeks to remove words like this because they help to sustain unhealthy gender norms.
A few years ago, they were just called 'life'", and theorists such as Crawford and Fox assert that this is essential in shifting gendered power dynamics.
