An important concern for all writers is to avoid using stereotypical wording or language.  So what is stereotyping? 

Stereotyping is stigmatizing or branding something or someone with a conventional, fixed, and oversimplified idea, view, or representation.  It is subjectively labeling or typecasting something or someone.  Here is an example of stereotyping in writing:

Ex. The committee wants the right man for the job.

There are gender, ability, age, racial, ethnic, and many more stereotypes. So how does one avoid stereotyping in writing?  A writer can avoid stereotyping by using inclusive language. 

What is inclusive language?

Inclusive language is wording that does not stereotype or degrade someone or something; it is wording that is not biased in any form or fashion.  Here is an example of inclusive language:

Ex. The committee wants the right person for the job

So, the goal of a writer when writing in a formal setting is to remain unbiased when writing in areas that could be viewed as stereotypical.  A writer wants to avoid all misconceptions of the stereotypical views of gender, ability, age, racial, ethnic, and the like.  In using inclusive language, a writer’s work sustains its credibility, and it allows for little or no areas to be read as prejudiced or false.

In addition to our website, we recommend the following site: Do’s and Don’ts of Inclusive Language.  This site looks at other ways to avoid stereotypes by using inclusive language.

Test your understanding of stereotyping and inclusive language in the following sentences by correcting the sentences:

1. Our mailman had to go around the gate to drop off our package.

2. Who was the writer who had his work published by the school?

3. The Harlem Renaissance deals with black writers.

Answers

1. Our mailperson (or mail carrier) had to go around the gate to drop off our package.

2. Who was the writer who had his or her work published by the school?

3. The Harlem Renaissance deals with African-American writers.

Grammatically Correct is a grammar tip of the week created by Academic Center Peer Writing Tutors at the University of Houston-Victoria in Victoria, Texas.

Comments about this newsletter should be directed to Summer Leibensperger, leibenspergers@uhv.edu.

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