With Woman

I have been asked to put my pronouns in my email and Zoom/Teams window at work

• One option is simply to do nothing. Leave your email signature as it always has been and don’t change your Zoom/Teams window. When it comes to introducing yourself, you can just say your name and your position without any pronouns.

• If anyone asks, or prompts you, just say, “it’s not relevant to me“, “no thanks” or “my pronouns are as you’d expect“. Stay polite and calm. It might give others the option to not join in too, much to their relief! Currently, it would be very difficult for any organisation to make this a condition of your employment.

Further reading

Woman’s Place UK Legal Feminist Sex Matters

I want to challenge the wording of our new patient leaflet, which has been re- written using de-sexed language

• It may well be that the author who used the de-sexed language did so in good faith, because it seems to now be the “correct” language. Sometimes just a gentle nudge or criticism to test the water is all it takes to get the change you want.

• You may find that requesting amends back to sexed language draws like-minded people to you. Remember, your beliefs are protected in law. Having these views cannot be the basis of any disciplinary action against you.

Our equality training at work seems to have got the Equality Act wrong

• Write to the people responsible for the training pointing them to the error and the correct definitions. See links and explanation above. The relevant protected characteristic is sometimes written as “gender” not “sex“. It is always worth pointing this out.

My co-authors or editor of my academic article or text book are suggesting additive language or de-sexed words

Here are some examples or wordings/justifications that you can adapt

The NICE postnatal care guideline

The guideline uses the terms “woman” or “mother” throughout. These should be taken to include people who do not identify as women but are pregnant or have given birth. Similarly, where the term “parents” is used, this should be taken to include anyone who has main responsibility for caring for a baby.

From an academic paper

The words women and woman are used throughout this paper, recognising that these terms reflect the biology of all people who are pregnant and give birth and the identity of most people who are pregnant and give birth. For the purpose of this paper, these terms include girls, and people whose gender identity does not correspond with their birth sex or who may have a non-binary identity.

From an academic literature review

We use the term “women” to encompass maternity service users regardless of gender identity. As pregnancy and birth are inherently sexed states and processes it is important to use sexed language

From research methodology section

The questionnaire asked respondents to provide their “sex”, rather than their “gender” or “gender identity”. This was to indicate the reproductive category they belonged to, rather than participants’ societal role or inner sense of self, as sex is pertinent in discourse relating to reproduction given the biological implications. The terms woman/women and man/men were used in the study.

From a book chapter

The terms “woman” and “women” are used throughout this chapter; however, we know not all natal women identify with their biological sex and caregivers should use appropriate individualised language that is sensitive to an individual’s needs.

From a paper on breastfeeding

The terms “woman” and “mother” and “breastfeeding” are used throughout our paper. Individual parents and families may use different words and we respect their preferred terminology when we care for them.

From a public information booklet

Most people who re-lactate or induce lactation see themselves as women and as mothers, so these are the terms used in this booklet. No offence is intended to any person who uses other words to describe themselves.

From an academic article

In this paper, “mother” refers to the female biological parent of a child and ‘woman’ to a person of the female sex. There are some more in the supplementary material of this article here.

How do we get media coverage of the sex and gender issue?

• When you contact media, aim to target a named journalist who has shown interest in this topic in the past, rather than just contacting the news or features desk.

• Contact more that one journalist/publication; you can direct message them on social media, email, or call. Make sure you give them a contact number.

• Be prepared! Evidence your story using specific examples. It is always stronger if you can use people’s real names with photographs and quotes if possible.

• Think about who can be available for interview. Who is the most qualified to speak?

• If you speak to a journalist, have the points you want to make ready. Everything you say will be “on the record” and may be published unless you both agree it will be withheld.

• For live TV/radio interviews, think of three important points you want to make. Focus on making these points no matter what questions the interviewer asks you.

• Work out simple and catchy sound bites for each point to make your message clear, relevant and memorable.

<< Chapter Three: Guidance

Chapter Five: Case Studies >>