Guidelines for Biasfree Writing - Softcover

Schwartz, Marilyn; Task Force On Bias-Free Language Of The

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0253209412 ISBN 13: 9780253209412

Publisher: Indiana University Press, 1995

About this title

From Booklist:

This guide is a product of the Task Force on Bias-Free Language of the Association of American University Presses. Concepts are presented in separate, numbered paragraphs similar to familiar style guides such as Turabian's Manual for Writers. Boxed examples of text, mostly drawn from university-press books and manuscripts, exemplify disparaging, exclusive, or otherwise incorrect usage.

The chapter "Gender" is the longest, comprising nearly half the book. Much attention is devoted to finding elegant and practical alternatives to the generic use of man, its compounds, and the generic he. The most controversial alternative will probably be the use of their in informal communication ("Everyone has to carry their own luggage" ). Other gender issues addressed include the trivializing effects of gender-marked terms such as feminine suffixes (waitress), idioms and figures of speech that are now considered sexist ("old wives' tale" ), and the problem of quoting historical sources that use sexist language.

The ensuing chapters are shorter. The chapter on race and ethnicity includes a glossary listing preferred terms (Muslim over Moslem), and offers guidelines for negotiating the differences among such terms as Native American, American Indian, native peoples, native Indian, and Metis. The chapter "Disabilities and Medical Conditions" includes a discussion of the difference between disability and handicap, the appropriate use of the word "normal," and the necessity of avoiding the use of disability as metaphor in such phrases as "blind to the truth." "Sexual Orientation" tackles heterosexism and appropriate terminology, including terms for partners in a homosexual or heterosexual couple. Age, just three pages in length, sets an age limit of 13 or 14 for use of boy or girl and suggests using youth for ages 13 to 19. Older person is now preferable to senior citizen or elderly person.

A bibliography lists guidelines issued by other organizations (AARP, the National Easter Seal Society), citations to sections of standard style manuals that deal with bias-free writing, and dictionaries of problematic terms such as the Bias-Free Word Finder (Beacon, 1991). An index leads readers to discussions of specific terms and such concepts as ethnocentricism or quoting.

Writers will appreciate the common sense with which the task force approaches bias-free writing. The authors caution against embracing such popular terms as differently abled or physically challenged because they may seem euphemistic. Some writers may feel constrained by stylistic directives such as those against "semantic choices attributing agency to men and passivity to women." The errors in some of the sentences illustrating these concepts are so subtle that they may not be immediately apparent. In another sensitive area, the task force cautions authors against acknowledgments that stereotype or trivialize the contributions of women to the finished work, including diligent typing.

While Guidelines for Bias-Free Writing is entirely satisfactory as a reference that can be consulted for advice about a specific term or situation, it will be most valuable to those who spend the time to read it cover to cover. Fortunately, reading it is a painless exercise. Like Strunk and White's Elements of Style, the book is entertaining and enlightening. Recommended for academic and public libraries.

From Library Journal:

This style sheet for politically correct writing covers gender, age, sexual orientation, disabilities and medical conditions, race, ethnicity, citizenship, nationality, and religion. Gender gets almost half the manual, which addresses but does not cure the most frequent complaints of gender-neutral prose-that the effort to neuter text often creates a hackneyed effect. The examples cited of gender-biased writing are, in some cases, simply bad writing, but the Task Force's point is made. The sections on sexual orientation and on citizenship and nationality may well become dated as political and cultural norms shift. In total, most modern writing books recognize and address the style issues raised here, but these guidelines are not only current and concise but promote consciousness-raising.
Robert Moore, Information Svcs., Dupont Merck Pharmaceuticals, North Billerica, Mass.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0253209412
• ISBN 13: 9780253209412
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 112