Restore the Life of Woman to Splendor with Regender (.com)

So, the other day my husband told me about a motivational speaker he listened to on campus. He mentioned that the speaker posted an inspirational quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson up on the projector screen, and then read:

There is a time in every woman's education when she arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that she must take herself for better, for worse, as her portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to her but through her toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to her to till. The power which resides in her is new in nature, and none but she knows what that is which she can do, nor does she know until she has tried.

After which, he immediately noticed that while the original quote on the screen had male pronouns, the speaker used female pronouns while reading it. The audience, he noticed, was not primarily made up of women. To make this adjustment to the quote, he thought, seemed weird and unnecessiary, and perhaps even insulting, as it specifically seemed to focus on the need for women to rise to their potential.



When he asked for my opinion about it, I certainly had the thought, "Go feminist motivational speaker!" But I wasn't there. Heck, I just made a random guess at which Emerson quote was cited. So it's impossible to gauge what my actual reaction would have been. But I think I would have enjoyed hearing it. After giving my opinion, we actually ended up having a long conversation about the motivations behind regendering text, the effectiveness of doing so, the concept of political correctness, and solutions to the problem with gender in text.

I'm not sure how many of you have thought about this, but it is definitely worth some consideration. Do you think there's a problem with using words such as he/him/his, man/men, and mankind in a gender inclusive context? I think to answer this question, we need to know some ways in which this language affects readers.

Firstly, there are numerous research studies that indicate that messages delivered using male-generic language create a male-centered interpretation of the information. For instance, if asked to draw or choose a visual representation of the information, subjects would include a male far more often than a female. However, when given prompts with language that was more gender neutral, females were represented much more frequently. But not only has research found that male generic language creates more male-centered perceptions in people, but also that many do not even feel that the information given applies to women at all.

It is a well established observation that readers are more receptive to authors who share their circumstances, perspectives, and values. Furthermore, researchers have found that sex is an important factor to this connection of shared life experience. In one particular study conducted by Erika Falk and Jordan Mills, the research focused on whether or not a message would be more persuasive if the reader felt that they were part of the intended audience for that message.

Males and females were asked to respond to an advertisement that was either male-generic in language, or gender neutral. They were asked how persuasive it was, how included they felt as part of the intended audience, how well they related to the creators of the ad, and how they felt about sexist language.

The results showed that females were much more persuaded by the gender neutral language, while there was no significance difference for men. The women also did not feel that the ads with male pronouns were directed for them, and furthermore, did not identify with the author of the ads. Surprising, the study did not indicate that persuasion was affected by how offended participants were with sexist language.

This study shows and relates that not only is the gender bias debate regarding language relevant for moral and feminist stances (as valid as I think those are, in and of themselves). It is also relevant because gender bias creates a barrier to the clarity of communication. In correcting biased language, our communication will be more clear and effective.

Now, it's clear to me that using gender neutral language is the ideal solution. But, what should we make of cases where female-centered language and pronouns are used exclusively? While it would be just as detrimental to have a language full of exclusively female-generic word choices as it is with male-generic ones, I think there are cases when it works, and it's admirable. In my opinion, it works in addressing situations where a special appeal to females is desired (including for the purpose of affirmative action). It also works profoundly well in soliciting awareness about the exclusivity of biased language!

Along those lines, I encourage everyone reading this to try this website. Just put in a webpage, and it regenders the text. It can highlight so much gender bias. I began by looking at Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self-Reliance (a favorite essay of mine). Conclusion: it was very apparent that there's a LOT more exclusively male language and references in there than I realized. In fact, practically the only reference to females regarded a "she-wolf's teat," a personification of Nature, and an oppressive personification of Fortune where men are counseled to "chain" her and "sit hereafter out of fear of her rotations." Wow, what noble female metaphors he has! However, as a woman, it was absolutely lovely to read the regendered Emerson:

"Woman is her own star; and the soul that can render an honest and a perfect woman, commands all light, all influence, all fate;"

"Every true woman is a cause, a country, and an age; requires infinite spaces and numbers and time fully to accomplish her design;" 

"Welcome evermore to goddesses and women is the self-helping woman. For her all doors are flung wide: her all tongues greet, all honors crown, all eyes follow with desire. Our love goes out to her and embraces her, because she did not need it. We solicitously and apologetically caress and celebrate her, because she held on her way and scorned our disapprobation."

"Let a Stoic open the resources of woman, and tell women they are not leaning willows, but can and must detach themselves; that with the exercise of self-trust, new powers shall appear; that a woman is the word made flesh, born to shed healing to the nations, that she should be ashamed of our compassion, and that the moment she acts from herself, tossing the laws, the books, idolatries, and customs out of the window, we pity her no more, but thank and revere her, -- and that teacher shall restore the life of woman to splendor, and make her name dear to all history." 

 Sweet, awesomeness! It truly seems to reawaken the text! I'm eager to look at philosophy, scriptures, news, and so many other things now. I'm sure it will invite many new and dramatic observations. Try it out for yourself, and let me know your impressions!



Why Sexist Language Affects Persuasion: The Role of Homophily, Intended Audience, and Offense by Erika Falk and Jordan Mills
Women and Language. Vol. 19, Iss. 2, Fall, 1996.