Editing Gender neutrality (section)

==Gender-neutral language==
{{Main|Gender-neutral language}}
'''Gender-neutral language''', '''gender-inclusive language''', '''inclusive language''' or '''gender neutrality''' is a form of [[linguistic prescriptivism]] that aims to eliminate (or neutralize) reference to gender in terms that describe people. This can involve discouragement of the use of [[gender-specific job title]]s, such as ''policeman/policewoman'', ''fireman'', ''stewardess'', ''chairman'', and, arguably, in favor of corresponding gender-neutral terms such as ''police officer'', ''firefighter'', ''flight attendant'' and ''chairperson'' (or ''chair''). Other gender-specific terms, such as ''actor'' and ''actress'', may be replaced by the originally male term (''actor'' used for either gender).

The language used in standardized tests can influence gender-based performance gaps. A study of Israel's college entrance examinations showed that using more inclusive language forms reduced the gender performance gap in quantitative sections by approximately one-fifth. It is possible that conventional gendered language may cause disadvantages through stereotypes, as the researchers found that this linguistic adjustment particularly boosted women's performance without having a negative impact on men's findings.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://doi.org/10.3386/w31400 |title=Gender-Neutral Language and Gender Disparities |last=Cohen |first=Alma |last2=Karelitz |first2=Tzur |last3=Kricheli-Katz |first3=Tamar |last4=Pumpian |first4=Sephi |last5=Regev |first5=Tali |date=June 2023 |publisher=National Bureau of Economic Research |location=Cambridge, MA}}</ref>

The practice of gender-neutral language is highly encouraged among law students and the Supreme Court of the United States. However, research has shown that, as of 2010, only one judge on the Supreme Court consistently uses gender-neutral language.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rose|first=Leslie|date=January 2010|title=The Supreme Court and Gender-Neutral Language: Setting the Standard Or Lagging Behind?|journal=Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy|volume=17|pages=81–129|id={{ProQuest|613423895}}}}</ref>

Research suggests that using the singular "they" as a gender-neutral pronoun may be processed efficiently by readers. Studies examining reading times found that when referring to nonspecific individuals, sentences with singular "they" were processed similarly to those using gender-matched pronouns (he/she) and more efficiently than sentences with gender-mismatched pronouns. When referring to particular people whose gender is known, however, the cognitive processing is different; gender-matching pronouns are processed more quickly. <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Foertsch |first=Julie |last2=Gernsbacher |first2=Morton Ann |date=March 1997 |title=In Search of Gender Neutrality: Is Singular They a Cognitively Efficient Substitute for Generic He ? |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1997.tb00691.x |journal=Psychological Science |language=en |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=106–111 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9280.1997.tb00691.x |issn=0956-7976|pmc=4293036 }}</ref>

The [[pronouns]] ''he''  or ''she'' may be replaced with ''[[singular they|they]]'' when the gender of the person referred to is unknown. In addition, those who do not identify as either female or male may use a [[gender-neutral pronoun]] to refer to themselves or have others refer to them.

A traditional view encouraged the pronoun ''he'' to be considered neutral up until the 60s-70s, when feminist objections occurred, so people began to use "he or she" pronouns. Today, using "he or she" can be considered making assumptions about someone's gender. The pronoun ''they'' wouldn't necessarily refer to a male or female.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-09-06 |title=What are the Preferred Gender-Neutral Pronouns in Academic Writing? |url=https://www.enago.com/academy/what-are-the-preferred-gender-pronouns-in-academic-writing/ |access-date=2022-03-27 |website=Enago Academy |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2012 a gender-neutral pronoun {{lang|sv|hen}} was proposed in Sweden, and in 2014 it was announced that this word would be included in the following edition of the Swedish Academy Glossary. Swedish thus became the first language to have a gender-neutral pronoun added by an authoritative institution. {{lang|sv|Hen}} can be used to describe anyone regardless of their sex or gender identification.<ref name="Gustafsson_Sendén_2015">{{cite journal |last1=Gustafsson Sendén |first1=Marie |last2=Bäck |first2=Emma A. |last3=Lindqvist |first3=Anna |date=July 2015 |title=Introducing a gender-neutral pronoun in a natural gender language: the influence of time on attitudes and behavior |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |volume=6 |pages=893 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00893 |pmc=4486751 |pmid=26191016 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Gender-neutral pronouns that have been proposed in the United States have not had widespread use outside of LGBTQ communities.<ref name="Gustafsson_Sendén_2015" />

LGBTQ activists have suggested that the pronouns "he/she and his/her linguistically enforce a normative two sex system" where one must fall into the gender binary of either male or female. There is a growing variety of several different gender-neutral pronouns. These may include ''sie'', ''hir'', ''hirs'', and ''hirself'', and also include ''z'' or ''p''. LGBTQ activists argue that only changing pronouns to be gender-neutral for people who are "sex/gender" ambiguous creates someone "other" than the norm. A proposed solution to this issue is to move towards the use of inclusive language and gender-neutral pronouns for everyone, even when the sex of a person is known, in an effort to remove the alleged subconscious effects of language in reinforcing gender and [[gender stereotypes]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wayne|first=Linda|date=Winter–Spring 2005|title=Neutral Pronouns: A Modest Proposal Whose Time Has Come|journal=Canadian Woman Studies|volume=24|pages=85–91|id={{ProQuest|217472802}}}}</ref><ref>Clarke, J. A. (2019). They, Them, and Theirs. ''Harvard Law Review'', ''132''(3), 895–991.</ref>

"Gender-neutral language" should not be confused with "[[genderless language]]", which refers to a language that does not have [[grammatical gender]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=translations.co.uk |date=2017-09-27 |title=What are Genderless Languages? |url=https://www.translations.co.uk/genderless-languages/ |access-date=2022-03-28 |website=translations.co.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref>