A dvertisements depict gender bias
while promoting products.
Looking at merchandise displays
in any mall will reveal that
a picture of a juvenile lad would
be near construction equipment
while an ad for perfume
would likely show a female.
The drawback of this seemingly innocent way
of displaying merchandise is that
they tend to affirm the bias
of the individuals who design them.
This is a serious flaw.
Maybe the intent was not to be exclusive
but that is the end result
of the message that is evoked,
whether subliminal or overt.
An alternate way of viewing the world,
with either both genders portrayed
or neither with the items,
may seem bizarre but marketing specialists
have been applauded
for making the effort to do so.
The hypothesis has been suggested
that if this practise were widespread
it would facilitate a change
for the better in the values
that are embedded in our society.
When you read a biography
in a newspaper in a metropolitan area,
you will find that different words
are used to describe males and females.
In almost any literary work,
personal appearance is seldom mentioned
when describing males,
but commonly used
when a female is the subject of the article.
Forms of address that are considered proper
to use are also discriminatory.
Males are always referred to as
Mr. (except a very young lad
might be addressed as Master).
There are several forms of abbreviations
to use before the name of a female.
It is permissible to use Mrs.,
Miss, or Ms.
The choice of abbreviation
is by personal preference
of the person being addressed
but they have different meanings.
Mrs. is used to signify a married woman.
Miss means an unmarried or single woman.
Ms. could mean either
and is the choice of many women
because it does not reveal their marital status.
How strange that society feels
it is necessary to be able
to deduce a woman's marital status
from her name by providing
this form of definitive identification.
A man could be married
or could be a bachelor
and one is not able
to ascertain his marital status from his name.
Why, then, is it necessary
to differentiate between a woman
who is married and one who is not?
Many of the cases of sexual harassment
that are dealt with in corporations
are a result of stereotyping.
Usually the person
who is the alleged harasser is a male
who supervises females.
Males have been taught by society
that they are the privileged gender
and have power over any female.
This is the basis
behind most incidents of harassment.
How strange that intelligent men feel entitled
to take advantage of females
in a subordinate position.
To heighten awareness,
forums or symposiums are held
to enlighten people about the importance
of using inclusive language
but may people still resist changing.
Some people are determined that
the word man also includes woman.
Sometimes the meaning does incorporate women
and sometimes it doesnt.
However, many woman insist that
they are never quite sure of the meaning
and suggest that the word humanity
should be used instead
when the intended meaning is both men
and women and then
there would be no confusion.
It is incomprehensible to others
why they refuse to change.
A booklet or pamphlet is available
for reference in most work places
to help people use inclusive language
in any writing in the workplace.
Some government offices have produced a leaflet
that can be used by companies
that do not have the impetus
or the resources to design their own.
Studies about gender differences
have suggested a hypothesis
that females have better verbal skills,
while males excel at tasks
requiring the ability to visualize.
Conclusions of many of the studies have proved
it invalid and found instead
the differences between the genders
to be almost nil. T
here are, however, notable differences
between individuals regardless of their gender.
The absurd criterion for
judging a person's ability based on
their gender needs to be abolished.
Until this is seen as being abnormal,
the attempt to updated attitudes
without removing the underlying cause
of the societal values will be useless.
