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In my work, I talk a lot about language and the power of words. Today we’re going to talk about ‘guys’. Not guys in the casual gathering of men sense; more from the “why do we refer to people of all genders as guys” point of view.
I’ve recently adapted the concept of ‘andronormativity’ as a way to describe why is commonly accepted to use masculine words for non-male people. My working definition of andronormative / andronormativity is the unconscious worldview that assumes ‘male’ as the default or normative assumption for people.
This is similar to another social lens, heteronormativity, which assumes that being heterosexual is the default sexual orientation. Generic or encompassing terms for people are male; social norms are organized around straight, male + female partnering. Intersecting these two creates a significant blind spot. An absence of other genders, gender identities, or sexual orientations goes completely unnoticed in most situations. Sounds harsh, but stick with me here.
Features of andronormative language: using “guys” for people of various gender, terms that use ‘man’ to represent ‘human’ or ‘person’ (man-hours, *occupation*man, all men are created equal, mankind, man-door, etc.), and using “he” or “him” to describe a generic person in a hypothetical situation (spoiler: the APA style guide recognizes using ‘they’ as a single, gender neutral pronoun).
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Using male language hinges on the assumption of “rounding up” to men. Greeting a team of people comprised of different genders with “good morning, guys”, and very few people notice. Replace that with “good morning, ladies” and people are disrupted.
Why? Glad you asked. My position is that our collective social assumption for people is masculine. Non-males are inundated with language that conveys an underlying message; male identity is presented as the norm, much to the social recognition detriment of everyone else.
If you have a non-male gender identity, the term guys is presented as ‘rounding up’. As a non-male identified person, you should be ok with that because you’re being lifted up to belong with the rest of the group.
This doesn’t work when I address the same mixed-gender group by saying ‘ladies’ because it’s rounding down. Not just rounding down to women, but rounding down to an even more limited social expectation of ‘ladies’. Now I’m telling you who you are AND I’m layering on restrictive social expectations as well.
Not just rounding down to women, but rounding down to an even more limited social expectation of ‘ladies’.
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Don’t believe me? Try it sometime.
Andronormativity is different than sexism or misogyny; although there can be elements of either, depending on the situation. The perspective itself is steeped more in ambivalence and invisibility. This lens of ‘male as the norm’ is reflected back when the absence of non-male people goes unnoticed.
The andronormative influence varies slightly when gender expectations intersect with stereotypical roles. Situations where gender-based stereotypes presume a predominately non-male presence (nurses, daycare providers, stay at home parents), the absence of men is not surprising. However, even in these environments, the words used will either still include masculine tones (guys) or expand to include men if even one is present. Missing here still is the visibility of other genders and gender identities.< Interestingly, even when images are used to disrupt gender-based stereotypes, they continue to stick within an expected schema. Shifting from a male pictured as the doctor, to a female as the doctor, still keeps that woman within the confines of care provider. Unless women are moms or intimate partners, we see images of men taking direction from them far less frequently.
Now, you can take control of the language used to describe other humans. Notice when biases creep into your language and expression.
Use this as an opportunity to create more robust greetings like, “good morning, all of you amazing rockstars!”
Use the buddy system and encourage colleagues to shout ‘andronormative language!’ during meetings.
Embrace using ‘they’ to describe a person in your examples (when a customer comes in, they typically go to the popcorn counter first)
Find more precise terms for occupations than just adding ‘man’ at the end (wow, that police officer looked surprised when they clocked me doing 90 in a Prius)
And, finally, stop saying ‘guys’ when you mean people. Don’t be that gu… person.
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This article originally appeared on My Kid Came Out
Photo credit: Getty Images
I’m from California, and I grew up calling everyone “you guys”. I have no problem with it, and I’m a feminist. It’s a useful term, because English lacks a plural 2nd person, and I would sound dumb if I started saying “y’all” (since I’m not from the South).
Hmm. You may be a bit biased. We have an extremely informal culture, and I don’t know how many times the girls in a binary group of specifically friends request to be just one of the guys. Until they don’t. Then they pull the gender card for their femininity. In general though, it seems actually respectful in that you’re acknowledging they are as fully capable as the men. There is no corresponding colloquial term for the binary group. Androcentric is probably a bit off unless we specifically want to separate and I’m not sure we do.
Stacy, thanks for your comments. As a researcher, I bracket my assumptions prior to observation to help mitigate the influence of bias. I coined the term ‘andronormative’ to describe the perspective I observed in various situations. It is interesting that you refer to “girls” (are these people actually children?) requesting to be one of the guys; then “playing the gender card” when being feminine. You seem to view this as an either / or dichotomy, rather than human beings expressing themselves irrespective of a gender based social expectation. Gender is not binary. Your comment of colloquial term supports my point.… Read more »
Thanks Jennifer for the reply. I understand gender is not binary, actually quite well. And when I said girls, it was not in a diminutive way-my point solely that there is no corresponding term, unless gals, which comes out of a play, guys and gals, but that word doesn’t ever really flow from me at all. Personally, I think a questionnaire should be done to find out how women collectively mind or not the term guys, when in mixed groups. Your coining of the term has merit as a basis for research hypothesis, and maybe would be proven true. But… Read more »
Good discussion, I really enjoy exchanges like this. Agree there are too few gender-neutral options for addressing a group of multiple genders. It’s a limitation of our language, but no one that merits misgendering people. “Ladies and gentlemen” is problematic because it also assumes a gender binary. People also identify as genderless, gender fluid, gender queer, etc. But why address people by gender in the first place? We could just as easily say “good morning, short and tall”. When you take a step back, it’s a completely arbitrary way to segment people. Using a shared noun “Good morning, students (parents,… Read more »
That’s a very fair point, jennifer. Nice chat.