On Man

Authors

Jaret Kanarek, Illinois Wesleyan UniversityFollow

Abstract

There is an all-pervasive assault, especially in schools, on "gen­dered" language. Increasingly, it is not acceptable to say he or she, him or her, et cetera (Martyna, 1980). These terms are seen as exclusionary to any and every unspecified party. Instead, students are required to say one, person, s/he or some other non-specific,arbitrary, "gender-neutral" term. The epicenter of the assault, posited as the pinnacle of linguistic evil, is the term man. Man, the assailants say, only denotes males. Females are the excluded party, and thus the use of the term is sexist (Kleinman, 2007). The solution, then, is to reject the use of the term for some "substitute" (APA).

Recommended Citation

Kanarek, Jaret (2012) "On Man," The Intellectual Standard: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 2.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/tis/vol1/iss1/2