OFF-MUTE 🔈
💬 Words matter. A lot.
🚨 Internal and external communications are complicated, and the stakes are higher than ever before.
🤯 It gets extra confusing when words become rhetoric. For example, we’ve begun hearing about the erasure of women since introducing transgender people to the abortion conversation.
🙋♀️ For the record, including one group doesn't automatically exclude another.
🔁 Society evolves and so does our language.
📖 This year, the Associated Press published a chapter on inclusive storytelling in its updated AP Stylebook. The guidance helps writers give voice and visibility to “those who have been missing or misrepresented” and find clarity in describing “people who differ from them in race, age, gender, class and many other ways.”
📣 Here are six important 2022 AP Stylebook updates that will make your words (and stories) more inclusive:
☑️ Be aware of nuances in the use of “female” and “woman/women.” “Since female primarily describes sex, not gender, some people object to its use as a descriptor for women because it can be seen as emphasizing biology and reproductive capacity over gender identity. It can also sometimes carry misogynistic tones that may vary in severity by race, class and other factors. For this reason, woman or women is increasingly common as an adjective.”
☑️ Use “pregnant people” or “people who seek abortions” only to describe the experiences of people who do not identify as women. For example, “women and pregnant people.” Be sure to include both and avoid lumping them all into one group. Inclusion is about making sure all affected groups are represented.
☑️ Avoid the terms “childless” and “child-free.” “They may be viewed as loaded or demeaning.” Instead, use a neutral description such as “has no children.”
☑️ Limit the use of “community” in reference to groups of people. “It implies homogeneity.” We think it's fine to use the word community in coordination with another term. For example, "social media community" or "LQBTQIA+ community."
☑️ Resist deadnaming. This refers to a transgender person’s previous name. “You should deadname a person only if it’s required to understand the story.”
☑️ Double-check all race-related mentions. Black(s) or white(s) should no longer be used as singular or plural nouns. Instead, use phrasing such as “Black people,” “white people,” “Black teachers,” “white students.” Black and white are acceptable as adjectives when relevant. Critical Race Theory, “an academic framework dating to the 1970s that centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation’s institutions and that those institutions maintain the dominance of white people,” needs to be written out (even for multiple references in one story or post) and should always include an explanation of what it is. And for stories about Native Americans – “the term Natives is acceptable on the second reference” and “tipi” is the new, preferred spelling of teepee.