The Conscious Language Newsletter: February 2026

Why physicians are not “providers.”

Author

Karen Yin
February 26, 2026

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

HEALTH

“The words ‘physician’ and ‘provider’ are not interchangeable. ‘Provider’ undermines the physician’s ethical obligations, clinical integrity, and accountability, as well as trust in the patient–physician relationship.”

ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY + RACE

“Travel companies interested in offering ‘authentic’ experiences anywhere must be willing to ask hard questions about their own assumptions, histories, and beliefs about these places and the people who live there.”

CREATIVE WRITING / ABILITY + DISABILITY

“When disabled authors write disabled characters, they often incorporate important aspects of everyday life with disabilities, such as ableist microaggressions, or medical appointments and symptoms.”

TRANSPARENCY

“Just because U.S. federal and state regulations have been slow to catch up to the AI boom does not mean that advertisers always have carte blanche to use AI systems or AI-generated content without notifying consumers.”

CREATIVE WRITING

Scriptwriter Says Adopted Children as Film Villains Is Harmful

Whether adoptees are portrayed through a fairy-tale lens or as trauma-driven villains, “both portrayals could be damaging in terms of future adoptive parents as they could think either everything will be easy or are put off because they think the children will be ‘naughty and really bad,’” says scriptwriter James Evans.

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EMPOWERMENT

“That simple shift in language lifted a weight in the room. ‘Got to’ felt like obligation. ‘Get to’ felt like privilege.”

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

How Stereotypes Inform the Way Gay Men See Themselves

“Structural homophobia keeps outdated systems at play in the collective consciousness about entire groups of people, which contributes to how those people perceive and feel about themselves.”

TEACHING CHILDREN / CREATIVE WRITING

“As well as boys experiencing pain more while girls cried more, when characters were shown helping others, boys tended to offer advice or problem-solve, while girls were more likely to provide comfort and support.”

HEALTH

“To psychiatrists, delusional disorders are very real, legitimate medical conditions…To many patients, however, the word ‘delusional’ carries a derogatory meaning.”

DESIGN + IMAGES / GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

Most AI Assistants Are Feminine—and It’s Fuelling Dangerous Stereotypes and Abuse

“In reality, the design choices behind these technologies—female voices, deferential responses, playful deflections—create a permissive environment for gendered aggression…When abuse becomes routine in digital spaces, we must seriously consider the risk that it will spill into offline behaviour.”

CSG in the News

Thanks to Hannah Milan and Uxcel for including The Conscious Language Newsletter as a top pick!

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