Why should women still receive bachelor’s and master’s degrees?

Many countries have adopted gender-neutral language in all their communication. Gender-specific words are no longer accepted in public communication. For example, “mankind” has been replaced with “humankind”, “humanity” or “human race”. Manpower has been replaced with “staff”, “personnel”, “workforce”, “labour force”, etc. “Man-made” is replaced with “artificial” or “human-caused”. The popular expression “the common man” has also been replaced with “the average person”.

According to the European Parliament, “Gender-neutral language is a generic term covering the use of non-sexist language, inclusive language or gender-fair language. The purpose of gender-neutral language is to avoid word choices which may be interpreted as biased, discriminatory or demeaning by implying that one sex or social gender is the norm.”

Some countries have even changed the wording of their national anthems and pledges to reflect gender neutrality. For example, in 2012 Austria altered some lines in its anthem for the sake of gender neutrality. In the first verse of the Austrian anthem, the word “sons” was replaced with “sons and daughters”; while in the third verse, “fraternal choirs” was changed to “jubilant choirs”. Similarly, Canada’s national anthem was officially altered in 2018 when the expression “in all thy sons command” was changed to “in all of us command.”

The United Nations advises that gender-biased expressions or expressions that reinforce gender stereotypes should be avoided in communication. Some discriminatory examples listed include:

“She throws/runs/fights like a girl.”

“In a manly way.”

“Oh, that’s women’s work.”

“Thank you to the ladies for making the room more beautiful.”

“Men just don’t understand.”

The desire for gender neutrality in language has even led to the breaking of the basic rule of subject-verb agreement in English grammar, which states that a subject must agree in number with the verb. See these examples: “It’s so good to love someone and they love you back.” The image it conjures is that you love one person, but many people love you in return.

“A guest forgot their car key here.” In one breath, the subject is one person (a guest), but in the same sentence, it assumes the pronoun “they”, which traditionally refers to more than one person.

“Ask each of the guests what they want for dinner.” Here you are asking “each person” what “they” will eat.

Sentences like this are created to avoid using “he” or “she” for an unknown gender. Because English lacks a gender-neutral pronoun (except “it” which is used for inanimate things), the plural pronoun “they” was adopted as a singular pronoun to serve that purpose. But many language purists still find it awkward when “they” is treated as a singular pronoun.

Some words are easy to change into gender-neutral forms. Words like cameraman can become camera operator; weatherman can become meteorologist; salesman can become salesperson; policeman can become police officer; handyman can become maintenance officer; foreman can become supervisor; and chairman can become chair or chairperson.

However, despite the effort to ensure gender neutrality and equity in the English language, some words have remained like a bone in the throat: hard to vomit and also hard to swallow. Some of them have become so ingrained in the system that many people are not even aware of their existence and inappropriateness. The first place where this stares one in the face is in university education. When people gain admission to study in the university, they are said to be pursuing a bachelor’s degree. A bachelor is a man who is unmarried and has never been married. This usually applies to young men. The question then arises: Why should a woman studying to get her first university degree be said to be pursuing her bachelor’s degree? Why shouldn’t she study for her spinster’s degree? Why not adopt a gender-neutral term like “beginner’s degree” for the first degree? That way, the acronym B.A., B.Sc. etc., can still be maintained.

For the second university degree, the same sexist or chauvinistic language persists. This time the degree is called a master’s degree. This is used to indicate that whoever acquires it has become an authority in the specified field. But it is not only men who study for master’s degrees. Why then should women continue to acquire master’s degrees? Why should the degree be named after a gender?

To reinforce its place as an advanced degree that showcases one’s authority while also maintaining its usage in acronyms, the second degree can be called manager’s degree, major’s degree, or mayor’s degree. That way, an M.A. or M.Sc. can be manager of arts or manager of science, major of arts or major of science, or mayor of arts or mayor of science.

Luckily, the third degree is gender-neutral. A doctor can be a male or female. A doctorate can refer to any gender.

Interestingly, non-university certificates are not sexist. A diploma or certificate is gender-neutral.

Another word that comes to mind is kingdom. For 70 years, Queen Elizabeth II was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Because the word “kingdom” has been fixed in the subconscious, it does not readily strike many as curious that a woman was the head of a “king”dom. What the name implies is that only men should rule over kingdoms. But if a kingdom can be ruled by kings and queens, why not change it to “kindom” and still maintain the sound and acronym UK? That way, you make it clear that the territory belongs to kinfolks or relatives instead of a king.

A similar issue is that which involves airlines. Why do some commercial airlines still have air hostesses? Can a man be an air hostess? The term “flight attendant” covers all genders and focuses on the profession instead of the gender of those offering the services.

The way the gendered university degrees have fostered gender stereotypes unobtrusively is the same way some words have been ingrained in English to reflect racial biases. People use them without even being aware that they help to promote stereotypes. It is not coincidental that words that have “black” in them have negative connotations, while those with “white” have positive connotations. For example, blackmail, blacklist, black market, black magic, black-out, black sheep, black eye, etc, are all negative. Satan, witches, wizards, and other negative characters also get painted black. The case of Satan is the most curious. His biblical name is Lucifer (which means “shining one” or “morning star”). He was described as “the son of the morning” because of his dazzling nature. How then could such a character be black even though there is no biblical record that his race or complexion was changed as part of his punishment? If Satan was not turned black, why then make him black and influence the world’s perception?

Conversely, words like “white lie”, “whitewash”, etc, don’t have negative connotations. For example, while black lies are deemed callous and condemnable, white lies are deemed harmless and acceptable!

It will not be easy to achieve gender neutrality in the English language, given that these words have been with us for centuries. But it is possible to change them if there is a commitment to do that. Having decided that there should be equity, inclusiveness, and diversity in all spheres of life, especially language, the world should go the whole hog and change all the gendered words.