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Wider use of gender-neutral language can deepen discrimination against women, healthcare experts warn
Inclusive and ‘desexed’ language, which has been adopted by some major western healthcare institutions as a nod to transgender people, may affect wellbeing of women and children in a very negative way, an international team of experts is warning.
According to research conducted by scientists from Australia, the US, Europe and Asia, and due to be published this week, general use of such terms as “birth persons” instead of “birthing women” or “human milk feeding” instead of “breastfeeding” not only puts the mother-infant bond under risk and undermines breastfeeding but also may contribute to further discrimination against women.
“Desexing the language of female reproduction has been done with a view to being sensitive to individual needs and as beneficial, kind, and inclusive. Yet, this kindness has delivered unintended consequences that have serious implications for women and children,” the experts wrote in their paper, called ‘Effective communication about pregnancy, birth, lactation, breastfeeding and newborn care: the importance of sexed language’ and seen by The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.
While the authors of the report, set to be published in Frontiers in Global Women’s Health, support the very idea of respect and inclusiveness, they warn of a “high cost” of “dehumanizing” women and, therefore, recommend using “desexed” terms on an individual basis only, “wherever possible.”
A co-author of the research and ex-president of the Australian College of Midwives, Jenny Gamble, explained that gender-neutral language can lead to deeper discrimination against women.
She underlined that as pregnancy, birth and early motherhood are “fundamentally sexed issues, not gendered,” pregnant women, women who are giving birth and new mothers have “unique vulnerabilities” and deserve protection.
“Confusing the idea of gender identity and the reality of sex risks adverse health consequences and deeper and more insidious discrimination against women,” Gamble said, as quoted by an Australian news outlet.
Wide and sometimes thoughtless use of gender-neutral terms has already caused several high-profile scandals.
In September last year a prominent scientific magazine Lancet had to apologize for sexism after the expression “bodies with vaginas” had appeared on its front page.
In December the UK’s Royal College of Midwives was forced to apologize for calling mothers “postnatal people” in its ‘safer sleep’ guidance. The organization admitted that not mentioning mothers was a “huge oversight,” especially considering the institution’s commitment “to ensure that women are never erased from the narrative around pregnancy & birth.”
NEW YORK, Jan 31 (IPS) – Regardless of a success or failure to reach a new agreement with Iran, Israel must not attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and must work closely with the US to develop a joint strategy to curb Iran’s ambition to acquire nuclear weapons and potentially end the conflict with Iran on a more permanent basis
British soldiers shot and killed 13 people and wounded others during a 1972 civil rights protest. The shootings exacerbated the conflict in Northern Ireland, which left thousands dead over decades.
The performer said slain New York City officer Jason Rivera was probably doing his job “incorrectly”
New York City actress Jacqueline Guzman has been dropped from her theater company after she went viral on TikTok with a video complaining about the inconvenience of a deceased cop’s funeral.
“We do not need to shut down most of lower Manhattan because one cop died for probably doing his job incorrectly,” Jacqueline Guzman said in the clip, taken while she is walking down a street that has been barricaded off. “They kill people who are under 22 every single day for no good reason and we don’t shut down the city for them.”
The actress went on to say that blocking off streets is “f**king ridiculous.”
“What if somebody is having a heart attack in this area? Nobody can get to them because it’s all blocked off for one f**king cop,” she said.
Guzman’s comments quickly spread across social media and caused outrage. Although the video was later deleted, that did not keep it from spreading.
Guzman’s acting company, Face to Face Films, released a statement distancing themselves from the performer.
“Face to Face Films does not support nor can condone these comments made about fallen Officer Rivera. As a result, she is no longer a member of our company,” they announced on Facebook.
Thousands turned out for Rivera’s funeral in Manhattan over the weekend to honor the slain cop.
“New Yorkers turned out by the thousands yesterday to help us honor our fallen brother. One person spreading hate cannot erase that,” New York City Police Benevolent Association (PBA) President Patrick Lynch told the New York Post in reaction to Guzman’s comments.
Rivera, 22, and Wilbert Mora, 27, were gunned down while responding to a domestic dispute earlier this month in Harlem. Rivera had been on the job for approximately a year, while Mora had been an officer for four years.
