In a four-page memo, the Ivy League institution’s human resources department wrote, “Gender-inclusive language is writing and speaking about people in a manner that does not use gender-based words”.
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“Use gender-neutral occupational titles and gender neutral generic terms instead of the generic term man, generic words and expressions that contain the word man and the use of man as an adjective or verb”, the guidelines said.
Many universities have also encouraged the campus community as a whole to use gender neutral or gender inclusive language.
The Princeton University administrators want to do away with the word “man” in the interest of “fostering an inclusive environment”, the College Fix reports.
Instead of “man and wife” use spouses or partners. Instead of using a term like “man made”, words such as “artificial”, “handmade”, “manufactured”, or “synthetic” should be used. These communication guidelines reflect the inclusive culture and policies at Princeton University.
The memo also promotes use of generic terms such as “businessperson” to replace gender-specific words such as “businessman” or “businesswoman”.
Last year, The University of Tennessee at Knoxville asked students and faculty to start calling students who don’t identify with a particular sex the pronouns “ze, xe, hir, hirs and zirs”, The College Fix reported.
However, Princeton’s LGBT Center offers a guide on how to use gender-inclusive, non-binary pronouns such as “ey”, “eirs”, “ze”, “hir” and “eir”. “Previous year it added questions about gender identity and sexual orientation to its admissions applications, offering no less than six choices for students when checking off their “gender identity” – male; female; trans male/trans man; trans female/trans woman; gender queer/gender non-conforming; and different identity”.
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“Careful writers avoid language that would universalize one element of humanity to the exclusion of others”, the Marquette memo says.
