July 2015 Newsletter

February 10, 2016

Appreciation for the Spotlight

Part of our mission is to spotlight those who help bring the conversation about conscious language to the forefront. And when Conscious Style Guide is in the spotlight, we want to bring attention to those involved in making it happen.

We are honored to be mentioned alongside AP Stylebook, Government Publishing Office, and PlainLanguage.gov in a Federal Times article about the new content guide from 18F, a government agency that creates digital products. Thank you, 18F, for listing us as a main resource.

After my panel on LGBT terminology at the ACES conference in March, I was interviewed by Samantha Enslen, editor of Tracking Changes (published by the American Copy Editors Society for its members). Thanks to Sam and ACES, you can access “Creating a ‘Conscious Style Guide'” online.

Also, a big wave of gratitude to accessibility expert and editor Ashley Bischoff for tips on optimizing the newsletter for screen readers. So important! Thank you.

With appreciation,

Karen Yin

Founder

“Dressed as pirates (‘of the Caribbean’ style), Key and Peele lead a shanty that is the reverse of what you’d expect from a bunch of old timey pirates.”

“According to the OED’s compilers, the word cisgender first arose in the late 1990s. The prefix ‘cis-‘ derives from Latin, meaning ‘on this side of’, and typically forms words in contrast to ‘trans’, usually with reference to geographic features such as ‘cisalpine’, it adds.”

“It surely offended sensibilities. But sometimes you have to do that to move a conversation forward.”

“Since the anti-LGBT argument is rooted in religion, those who are religious should be the first to stand up and combat that negative narrative.”

“A few years back I noticed something: the frequency with which the word ‘just’ appeared in email and conversation from female co-workers and friends.”

“If a lawyer says that you have to use a particular bit of legalese, ask for a legal citation—the name of the code and the numbers—and find the original.”

“Saying ‘I am sorry’ is intuitive. You want to avoid saying, for example, ‘my trust regrets’ or ‘the organisation that I work for regrets’. These could be seen by patients as slightly weasel words. They want a personal apology and for the doctor or the team to show genuine contrition.”—Professor and GMC chairman Terence Stephenson

“If a woman is sedated, she isn’t able to give consent. If sex with an unconscious person is sexual assault, is it ethical for reporters to write this sentence instead: ‘A man admitted that he gave sedatives to a woman in order to sexually assault her’? The Associated Press chose not to do that….”

“Lorna Morello (Yael Stone) makes a rude joke to transgender inmate Sophia (Laverne Cox), calling her a ‘lady-man.’ But instead of letting it slide, Sophia calls Morello out on the slur and stands up for herself and the population she implicitly represents. The Asian characters don’t have that same opportunity, to confront racist jokes as they happens, and instead are relegated to either putting up with it or not even knowing it’s happening, which is a much more insidious fate.”

What does “bisexual” mean? How do academic definitions of bisexuality promote biphobia and misinformation?

“Many disabled people have argued vehemently against the use of ‘person-first’ language, instead preferring ‘disability-first’ language, such as he or she is an ‘autistic person.’ Nowhere is this issue more hotly debated than the field of autism.”

“Some people think they are being more inclusive by saying #AllLivesMatter in response to #BlackLivesMatter but in reality, they’re (un)consciously undermining the purpose of the movement. Because this PARTICULAR movement is about SPECIFIC issues, as any decently effective movement is. You can’t just have a protest for ‘Make Everything In The World Better!'”—Matt McGorry

“[Neineh] Plo said what worries him is when teachers don’t ask their students about their real names and their meanings. After being called the wrong name for years, students start to lose a connection with the names they were given at birth.”

Xicana vs. Chicana.

“I’ll be honest here and say I do think women calling other women girls get a free pass. I know people hate it when free passes exist, but it’s the way of things. I often swap a ‘girl, please’ with a close female friend, or even a ‘gurl’ as a sign of endearment, but it’s always said as a cheeky nod to solidarity. We know we’re women.”

“His olive skin comes from his donor, not his dad. And when the older lady in the store says ‘having a baby with a stranger is just weird,’ my heart lurches at the ignorance. I didn’t have a baby with a stranger. I had a baby with Sarah, my partner, my soul mate, my best friend.”

“Most second or even third generation immigrants are used to being asked where they ‘originally come from’—but being used to something divisive doesn’t make it innocuous.”

“One of the things we emphasize in our training is that everything comes down to personal preference. There’s no perfect way to always use the right word, because two people who are in the exact same group could have very different preferences of language.”—Amber Cheek, director of accessibility at the University of Missouri-Columbia

 Shades of Suffrage: -ette vs. -ist | Columbia Journalism Review

“Suffragette” vs. “suffragist.”

Communication tip: “If someone uses a translator, talk to them, not the translator. Do not talk about them in the third person.”

The Conscious Style Guide newsletter rounds up the best news and blog posts from the world of kind, compassionate, mindful, empowering, respectful, and inclusive language. Note: Spotlighting an opinion is not intended as an endorsement. Please send news tips to [email protected].

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