Gender-Fair Language

In one of our faculty meetings, I proposed that UP Visayas adopt a policy on using the "singular they" in its official documents. 

For example,

"Rin is a gender-fluid person. They are from Alimodian and enjoy biking."

"Each child was required to be guided by their parent during online classes."

Not only is this already acceptable in the academic setting (the American Psychological Association already endorses it), this is actually not a new thing for us Filipinos because we tend to use "plural" forms of pronouns to mark politeness, respect, or consideration (e.g., "Kung inyo pong mamarapatin" or "Ano tani aton, suki?").

As we mark the start of the 18-day Campaign to End Violence against Women, I am posting some pages from the Gender-Fair Language Primer published by UP in 1998 and updated in 2014. I hope we learn from the lessons here because words, whether spoken or written, have the power to manipulate, discriminate, and render entire sectors of society invisible.

#EndVAWC

#VAWFreePH