Gender First Aid Kit

Introduction

This Wiki article aims at giving a first and basic introduction to the topic of gender. Our intention is to offer some helpful tools and advice on how gender is important to consider in everyday life at university. We hope that students and teachers find helpful information and suggestions of how to act more aware regarding gender.

As this is meant to be a gender first aid kit we start this article by offering some practical advice on how to use gender neutral language and different pronouns as well as reflect on one’s own talking behaviour. After that we will describe the history of the concept of gender and thereby highlighting to you the most important information on the topic from our point of view. In the end, we will point out the relation of institutions such as universities with gender and explain why it is one important factor to consider while studying or working in an institution.

Disclaimer: The contents of this article require a very sensitive use of language and certain words. We as authors reflected upon that and want to share our thoughts with you before reading. During this article we will refer to and write about BIPoC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour). We decided to rather use the term non-white people as this is more descriptive, and BIPoC is often used as empowering self-designation, which is why we as only white authors do not want to claim that. Furthermore, we are aware of our own privileged position regarding gender identity, social and academic background.

History of Gender

This section will provide a brief historical outline of how the concept of sex, and later gender, came into being from the 18th century onward until today. This is by no means a complete historical account but rather tries to give an introduction to the topic. The further links we provide might be a good starting point to deepen your knowledge if interested. We will mainly focus on the Enlightenment period in which natural sciences such as anthropology and biology emerged to explain the development of the sex binary and the differentiation of humans in races. After that, there will be a short summary of the four waves of feminism focusing on each’s main claims and developments regarding sex and gender. Furthermore, this historical section refers to the German/European/Western history of sex and gender and cannot be generalized to other societies, cultures and regions of the world.

Gender definition Arevalo 2020; Lieu et al. 2020; Mechlenborg, Gram-Hanssen 2020; Moyo, Dhliwayo 2019; Curth, Evans 2011

Disclaimer: We decided to use the historical terms and meanings for sex and gender as they were used at the given time. By that we do not wish to reproduce the biological differentiation into women and men as right gender understanding but to increase the comprehensibility for the reader and to display the understanding of sex and gender at the respected historical time. Trigger warning: Throughout this chapter, references to racism and colonialism are being made. There are never detailed descriptions of racist violence.

The Enlightenment

Society in the 18th century was widely built upon a hierarchical system rooted in gender and race, which constructed social positions based on gender and racial differences. This separation of society into women and men and white and non-white people emerged during the Enlightenment which was an intellectual movement in the 18th century that strived for objective answers based on reason.

All people are equal?

Thus, the previous focus of society on religion and culture was tried to be replaced by reason. Based on the idea that all people are equal by nature, social, civil and universal human rights slowly evolved. An early example of these developments were the demands of European women for more rights, thereby questioning long-established social arrangements with respect to women’s rights and duties. This is now considered the first wave of feminism. The demands of women at the time raised the question of whether and how such changes in rights would be justified. In addition, it was unclear whether males of different skin colour had equal property rights and, in the course of this, how slavery could be continued, since the system was depending on injust labour force. A supposedly ‘scientific’ answer rooted in reason on how to justify the continuation of social inequality was needed (Eagle Russett 1989, Schiebinger 1993). "They were looking to nature for solutions to questions about sexual and racial equality. [...] Scientists took up the task of uncovering differences imagined as natural to bodies and hence foundational to societies based on natural law. [They] did not draw their research priorities and conclusions from a quiet contemplation of nature, but from political currents of their times" (Schiebinger 1993; 9,183). Under the pretext of reason and building on what was believed to be modern science, biological sexism and racism emerged, paving the way to biological determinism.

Exclusive science

The beard as a feeble indicator for superiority was already mentioned, yet over the next decades and centuries, further explanations to justify social inequalities were investigated. Criteria of inclusion and exclusion of certain people also applied to academic communities, creating a closed ingroup. Knowledge production thus consolidated itself as an exclusive white-male club, yet deprived itself of other perspectives, whose ideas and experiences were not considered valid. The white-male science of the time became restrictive in their theoretical and empirical focus. The division of people into the categories of male and female, white and non-white and the simultaneous establishment of a superiority of white males, argued through characteristics possessed only by them, led to the exclusion of non-white people from science (Schiebinger 1993). "European men, dominating academic science, increasingly tightened the reins on what was recognised as legitimate knowledge and who could produce that knowledge" (Schiebinger 1993, 142). While this Zeitgeist in science and society is now rightfully considered wrong, it is also relevant to mention the uncountable inequalities and injustices that got propelled out of that time.

Colonisation and Christianisation

Since Colonisation was a multi-faceted process, main actors were not just statesmen who executed their orders from their European home countries. It was also missionaries who enforced a process of Christianisation in the colonies. Christian missionaries fulfilled the task of education on colonised land. The school often functioned as the church also was a place where the culture should be transformed to align with European values. Especially the family system was targeted with a focus on polygamy. “For the missionaries, having multiple wives was not only primitive but against God's law: polygamy was adultery, pure and simple” (Oyewumi 1997: 137). So the Christian education focused on conveying Western gender roles that were in their eyes more ‘civilised’. Besides learning to read the Bible children were taught skills and behaviour that suited their respective gender roles and expectations.

At this point, it must also be pointed out that Christianity was and is not the only religion that transported and exported certain ideas of gender, gender roles and sexuality with its spread. For example during the expansion of Islam starting around 800 throughout the Middle East and North Africa, but also to southern Europe, India, sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia and Southeast Asia patriarchal and heterosexual norms were spread originating from Islam and Middle-Eastern traditions (Stearns 2015).

Take Home Message

In the 18th century, the concept of sex was created by natural scientists who applied self-selected differentiating characteristics on the basis of biological determinsm. After centuries of reflection on biases, systematic preconceptions, and oppression, parts of the scientific community came to the conclusion that neither sex nor gender are objective truths. Today, both sex and gender are considered socially constructed. What we have tried to show with this historical outline is that even supposedly scientifically produced knowledge is not objectively true but is permeated by social and cultural norms of the time. Scientific knowledge was and is used to justify policies and practices but one has to keep in mind that people have and still suffer because of these. As scientists, we therefore have an obligation to be critical of ourselves and of how we navigate this.

Gender Neutral Language

What is gender neutral language?

“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.“ (European Parliament 2018)

How is it used in different languages?

There are different strategies for using gender neutral language, depending on which language is spoken. In English, but also in some Scandinavian languages, many nouns are already gender neutral. The easiest strategy would be to reduce gender-specific terms as much as possible and thus to neutralise them. The European Parliament provides some examples of this: words that are not gender-specific and refer to people in general, with no reference to the person's gender (‘chairwoman’ or “chairman” is replaced by ‘Chair’ or ‘chairperson’, ‘policeman’ or ‘policewoman’ by ‘police officer’, ‘spokesman’ or “spokeswoman” by ‘spokesperson’, ‘stewardess’ or “steward” by ‘flight attendant’, ‘headmaster’ or ‘headmistress’ by ‘director’ or ‘principal’, etc.)” (European Parliament, 2018). In contrast, in German, but also in other Romance languages, it is not quite so simple as every noun has a grammatical gender and gender-related nouns occur very frequently. Usually, the generic masculine is used most of the time. Most nouns therefore have a masculine ending, especially in the plural. For example, we talk about Schüler, Bürger and Studenten. Many people do not question the generic masculine and accept it as 'normal' and 'correct'. However, it can be perceived as discriminatory by people who do not feel addressed and included by this generic. Moreover, psycho-lingual studies have shown that the way we phrase our sentences and what words we use shapes our reality. For example, when using only the generic masculine form to describe occupational titles, people imagine a male worker. This effect is especially crucial for children and their own perception of job status and self-efficacy (Vervecken & Hannover 2015). Thus, language is a tool to reinforce or counteract sexist, binary, and discriminatory structures and hence crucial to use carefully and with intent.

A variant of gender-neutral language or gender-sensitive language would be, on the one hand, to find a gender-neutral word for that noun, such as Studierende, Lehrpersonen, etc., or to gender it. There are now some well-known variants and various institutions already use them. For example, the generic masculine is no longer used, and there is no longer talk of Schüler and Studenten, but of Schüler*innen and Student*innen (other variants are, for example, with a ‘:’ or ‘_’ i.e., Schüler:innen or Student_innen). The advantage “des Gendern” and the use of gender-neutral terms over another strategy, namely the use of the feminine and masculine form such as Schüler and Schülerinnen or Studentinnen und Studenten, is that not only persons of the feminine and masculine gender are addressed, but also people that do not identify with one of the two binary genders.

Pronouns

What are pronouns? Why do they matter?

Pronouns are a way to refer to a person in a conversation besides using their name. Therefore, they are often intertwined with gender identity. Using the right pronouns when talking about another person acknowledges and validates their identity and shows acceptance and respect for the other person.

There are different pronouns commonly used, for example she/her, he/him or they/them. However, pronouns are not limited to just these terms. People can use multiple sets of pronouns (e.g., she/they), which shall be used interchangeably when referring to this person. Additionally, neopronouns e.g. xe, thon, ens or dey (in German) have been on the rise especially for non-binary and genderqueer people. Learning how to use and conjugate them is a way of showing that you care. In the German language, there is no established gender neutral pronoun yet. Thus, using no pronouns and simply being addressed by one’s name is common.

It is important to remember that gender expression is not the same as gender identity. The way a person presents (for example by wearing certain clothes or make-up) does not say anything about what pronouns they use and what their gender identity is, meaning you cannot visually tell what a person's gender is. Hence, a person can present in a traditionally feminine way and identify as non-binary and use they/them pronouns.

How to ask for pronouns

When meeting new people, an easy way to let people know your pronouns is by introducing yourself with your name and your pronouns (e.g. Hello! My name is ... and I use .../... pronouns. Nice to meet you.). It may feel a little weird and unfamiliar at first, but the more you do it the more it will become normal and natural. Furthermore, it often leads to the other person introducing them with their pronouns as well. If not, you can kindly ask for it ("What pronouns do you use?"). Especially for cisgender people, introducing oneself with pronouns is a good sign of showing awareness and being an ally to transgender/genderqueer/non-binary people since it contributes to normalising this process and helps to reduce assuming pronouns based on appearance.

If you have already met a person but are unsure of their pronouns it is okay to ask for them again or at a later point. It might be convenient to do so in a more private setting and not in front of a group to take away pressure. This applies to the usage of pronouns you don't know as well. It is always better to ask for clarification respectfully than to assume and/or use wrong pronouns.

Sometimes, what pronouns or names people want to be addressed with may vary due to contexts and feelings of safety. If possible, ask people beforehand.

What (not) to do when messing up

If you accidentally use the wrong pronoun for a person, it is important to correct yourself. This shows your respect for the other person and their identity. A correction and a short apology may look like this: "“He likes – I’m sorry, they like noodles more than rice." Making excuses however can be frustrating - therefore avoid doing so. We propose a similar approach when someone else corrects you: thank them for doing so and move on with your sentence using the correct pronoun - don’t react offended if someone informs you that you have used the wrong pronouns.

If you notice another person using wrong pronouns, speaking up is a good way to show solidarity and awareness. However, it is important to keep in mind that this should be at the comfort of the affected person.

Be trustworthy!

If you know a name or pronoun a person has previously used, keep it to yourself. Try to avoid situations, especially in public, where a person is pressured to reveal their “dead name” (=old name), email-addresses, letters, IDs ...