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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

genderspeak en · NOUN

Etymology

From gender + -speak.

Meanings

  1. (derogatory, uncountable) Gender-neutral language or communication.
    • The result is a slightly odd hybrid of '90s genderspeak and the cornball phrasing in Preston Sturges movies. One of my favorite passages, on sex in sobriety, substitutes human beings for man and now reads: […] 1996, Utne Reader, November-December 1996, page 96:
    • I've also strayed from the politically correct in many ways, not the least of which is genderspeak. I use he, him, his and so on throughout the book (unless I am writing about a woman), […] 2005, Bendrix Bailey, The Chief No Officer: Confessions of an Unconventional Entrepreneur, unnumbered page:
    • 'Man' when used of the human race is the primary use, which the Shorter Oxford Dictionary still upholds, and so what we are seeing is not a change of inclusive language so much as a kind of 'genderspeak'. 1994, Mark Turnham Elvins, Towards a People's Liturgy: The Importance of Language, page 56:
  2. (uncountable) Gendered language or communication.
    • If 1948 was a watershed year for the visibility of homosexuality in American culture, 1949 can be read as the beginning of the backlash against soft masculinity and the "doughfaces" in government. In the genderspeak of the Cold War, the biggest doughface of them all was Alger Hiss. 2011, James Penner, Pinks, Pansies, and Punks: The Rhetoric of Masculinity in American Literary Culture, page 91:
    • While she [Olenna Tyrell] directly ridicules authority figures like Varys and Tyrion, and stands up for her goals, she also uses pacifying genderspeak as Daenerys does. She comforts a terrified Sansa by telling her they're just a group of women chatting. 2014, Valerie Estelle Frankel, Women in Game of Thrones: Power, Conformity and Resistance, page 123:
    • Eliminate genderspeak from job titles and terminology. Replace salesman and mailman with sales representative and mail carrier. 1993, B. Eugene Griessman, Diversity: Challenges and Opportunities, page 44:
  3. (uncountable) The communication style and/or speech pattern associated with a particular gender.
    • Mary Crawford psychology professor at the University of South Carolina and an authority in the field of "genderspeak," complains that Tannen has not thoroughly analyzed the power issues involved in speech. 1997, Marry Guffey, Essentials of Business Communication, page 40:
    • I think it's time we all lightened up and realized that we can't control each other's behaviors or alter each other's personalities by dissecting every little thing with genderspeak. Indeed, we should read, investigate, and educate ourselves to understand our differences. But you have to agree that if you did everything many of these books told you to do, you would have a 24-hour job. You'd end up too tired for a relationship. 1998, Loretta LaRoche, Relax--You May Have Only a Few Minutes Left: Using the Power of Humor to Overcome Stress in Your Life and Work, page 143:
    • Genderspeak creates confusion between parents and children of the opposite sex just as surely as it does between parents themselves. For mothers, having sons can be a mystery, just as having daughters can be a mystery for fathers. 2002, Deborah Tannen, I Only Say This Because I Love You: Talking to Your Parents, Partner, Sibs, and Kids When You're All Adults, page 136:

Synonyms

genderlect (communication style/speech pattern associated with a gender)