As an editor, I have felt justified in retaining gender-exclusive language if I knew that an intended audience would be conservative. Two recent incidents have made me re-examine the issue.

After seeing the Woody Allen movie, Alice, one of my movie companions stated that the movie’s “indictment of money” was going to be a shock to all the rich Jews who go to see it,” implying (1) Jews are rich; (2) excessive money is a stigma; (3) only rich people who are also Jews should be stigmatized; and (4) the movie was an indictment solely of rich Jews.

I pointed out that the main characters in Alice were Catholic. Another companion then said, “Come on. Don’t tell me that the first woman, the one with the brown hair and with the little white dog, wasn’t Jewish. With an accent and nose like that?”

I was so sickened I didn’t know what to say. Later, discussing the incident with a friend, he said, “I don’t think they meant to be anti-semitic.” I, however, as a human being and a Jew, was offended.

The second incident occurred when I was in Chicago with a friend and some other women I had just met. One of them said, as we were deciding where to park, “Leave the car with the (facility’s) parking attendant. We’ll all chip in. Let’s not be Jews.”

Later, I mentioned the comment to my friend. After thinking awhile, she said, “Well, it’s how she was raised.”

Maybe so, but I know that if I ever meet her again, I will not be able to hear any thing that the young woman might say to me without remembering and considering the implications of the slur that she used.

There is a similarity between racial or ethnic stereotypes and gender stereotypes. All stereotypes exclude groups or individuals from the realm of possibilities.

After rereading Paul Kirk’s articles, it is clear to me that the Selfs are concerned about cultural rights and “treating people as individuals.” Considering that my recent experiences with ethnic stereotypes involved people who graduated from NIU, the Selfs’ concerns are particularly well-grounded.

Gender-exclusive language, racial or ethnic epithets or slurs, and stereotypical gender, racial, or ethnic characterizations are damaging, offensive, and alienating; the prejudices they express lead racial, ethnic, or religious groups to turn on themselves in protective isolation and cause a great deal of pain to individuals.

Personally, I have decided that I support any effort that will encourage students to learn to speak to and write for a diverse audience in an effective, credible manner, particularly if the efforts also challenge us to at least consider, if not overcome, the limitations of our background, political affiliation, and of our language.

Michelle Parrini

Research Associate/Editor

Center for Governmental Studies