Doing so will show your audience that you are aware of who they are and have made a point to include them. Don’t say female, when you mean to say woman.
#Long langy women professional
It implies that while someone may “identify” as one thing, the rest of the world can see that they are “really” something else.Īs a professional or brand, make a point to use the correct, inclusive terminology when referencing women. However, the word “woman” is sufficient-adding the suffix “-identifying” can signal that there is a difference between a “real” woman and a “woman-identifying” person. For example, “woman-identifying” or “female-identifying” was a widely used construction to refer to one’s gender identity. Other modifications to the word “woman” have appeared in recent years in an attempt to be inclusive, but have since been deemed less than ideal. In fact, some consider “female” to be reductive not only to trans women but to cis women as well, reducing their identity to a mere reproductive capability (New Yorker). As a result, while “woman” technically is a noun (Merriam Webster), many are embracing its use as an adjective to achieve a more inclusive meaning that emphasizes gender over biological sex. Essentially, “female” connotes a biological category, while a “woman” is a whole human person. So, as our understandings of biological sex and gender have been slowly teased apart, these terms have grown away from being interchangeable synonyms.
![long langy women long langy women](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/6b/f0/a1/6bf0a1115b955923d4197456fe974c78.jpg)
This usage includes transgender women, who were not born female, and assumes that a woman is any human who holds that particular gender identity, regardless of the sex they were assigned at birth. The term “female” has a biological connotation, typically referring to sex assigned at birth based on anatomy and is also used to describe non-human animals who are capable of bearing young or producing eggs (Merriam Webster).Ĭolloquially, “woman” has referred to gender-one’s internal understanding of their identity and how it fits into social constructs. Not everyone who was born female is a woman, and not every woman was born female. Historically, “female” has been widely accepted as the adjective form of “woman.” However, this usage is not only exclusionary, but frankly inaccurate. This Women’s History Month, as we celebrate the accomplishments of women throughout history, it feels appropriate to reflect upon the language we use to do so.
![long langy women long langy women](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BKnhFhES8rk/maxresdefault.jpg)
Words Matter: Use “Woman”, not “Female”, to be Inclusive