An agency under the United Nations has unofficially declared war on gendered language, starting with the word "man."
In its latest crackdown on such language, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has advised staffers to eschew masculine terms. WIPO, which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, is responsible for protecting trademarks and patents globally. According to the agency's guidance, masculine terms such as "forefathers" and "brotherhood of man" should not be used.
The WIPO also proposed several gender-neutral suggestions to replace these gendered terms:
- Faithful dog to replace "man's best friend"
- Birth attendant to replace "midwife"
- Ordinary citizen or typical person to replace "man in the street"
- Fair or sporting to replace "sportsmanlike"
- Cave dweller or prehistoric people to replace "caveman" / "cavewoman"
- Humanity to replace "the brotherhood of man"
According to the Daily Mail, the WIPO is "bent on going after the use of so-called masculine terminology in its communications and documentation." The tabloid explained that the agency's guidance followed the British Red Cross (BRC) receiving accusations of being "hijacked by political extremists" after it issued similar guidelines. The BRC ostensibly prohibited staffers from using phrases such as "ladies and gentlemen" and "maiden name." (Related: UN agency plays language police with new rules against gendered language.)
WIPO says its language guidelines are "not prescriptive"
According to the WIPO's guidelines signed off by its Director-General Daren Tang, using "masculine-specific" terms risks giving the impression that “women are not represented in certain groups or do not possess certain skills. Nevertheless, it reiterates that the guidelines are "not prescriptive and common sense and clarity of text should always prevail."
The agency also argued that the guidance was designed to be a straightforward awareness-raising exercise on how to use language that resonates with the widest possible audience, which may include avoiding terms that are linked to one specific gender when other neutral, more-inclusive words are available.
But for Toby Young, founder of the Free Speech Union (FSU), "Orwellian" is the right term to describe the WIPO's new guidance. According to its website, FSU is a non-partisan, not-for-profit membership organization that stands up for people whose right to freedom of expression has been violated.
"This is precisely what George Orwell warned us about," said Young. "Banning certain words and phrases to advance a dogmatic political ideology is a hallmark of totalitarianism."
"While language critics of WIPO note that there is little in the spoken jargon that will encourage people to adopt the nuances of WIPO – the same goes for businesses working with patents and trademarks. As confusion abounds, the logical next step is for the agency to take a more aggressive approach to enforcing the guidelines."
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