There used to be a saying — “Watch your language.” That directive still exists, but it means something considerably different these days.
The Associated Press Stylebook, which has been used as a writing guide by news agencies for many decades, is not well-known. There are periodic updates and new instructions that address the topic of gender identity.
Transgender Coverage Topical Guide says that sexuality is not an actual reality at birth. Instead, someone has an idea and challenges the baby to follow it.
A person’s sex and gender are usually assigned at birth by parents or attendants and can turn out to be inaccurate.
Gender, the manual insists, isn’t limited to men and women. This, of course, is correct: “Gender” is a recent invention of man. That’s why there’s a cake gender and bird gender.
Should everyone subscribe to gender’s all-new notion? The answer seems obvious:
Experts believe that gender is a continuum and not just a binary representation of men or women. This spectrum can differ between societies and may change as well.
Here’s more, from National Review,
Writers are encouraged to use the preferred gender identity to identify subjects. The guide condemns ‘deadnaming,’ or referring to a transgender person’s previous name, because that “can be akin to using a slur and can cause feelings of gender dysphoria to resurface.
When a man identifies with a female as his gender, it is considered a woman. Writers should be clear:
The guide explains that the word “identify” can be useful, but alternative phrasing “like ‘is a woman’ is more to the point than ‘identifies as a woman.’”
More details:
The guide…advises writers to “avoid terms like ‘biological male,’ which opponents of transgender rights sometimes use to oversimplify sex and gender, is often misleading shorthand for ‘assigned male at birth,’ and is redundant because sex is inherently biological.”
As for drugs and surgeries aimed at affixing someone physically closer to that of their desired presentation, the Stylebook calls such “gender-affirming care” and “gender-confirmation procedures.” To be clear, such “can improve psychological well-being and reduce suicidal behavior” (see a contrary takeaway here).
The AP points out that the World Professional Association for Transgender Health “recently lowered its recommended minimum age for starting gender transition treatment, including ‘sex hormones’ and surgeries. It says hormones can be started at age 14 and some surgeries at 15 or 17.”
Stylebook asserts that conservatives have been targeting vulnerable young people with weapons.
Beginning in 2020, U.S. state legislatures with conservative leanings considered a number of transgender-related bills. Many political observers assert that the legislation is being used to motivate voters by falsely framing children as under threat.”
Sex-separate sport is sinister.
Over a dozen states passed legislation banning transgender athletes on certain teams in the two following years. Opponents claim that these measures unfairly target an already marginalized group and that there are rules that monitor individual leagues and conferences, making it unnecessary to pass such legislation.
Is there an athletic advantage for males over females? It doesn’t sound like it:
Transgender athletes’ backers argue, among other things, that individuals are different, that sweeping restrictions overblow the prevalence of the issue, and that it’s not possible to know with certainty what gives any particular athlete, transgender or cisgender, a competitive edge.
What is a woman anyway?
The inclusive term ‘pregnant people’ is preferred when describing people who are pregnant. This includes minors, transgender people and those who are not of the same gender. Aim to use the phrase ‘pregnant women’ only when it’s known everyone the term applies to identifies as a woman.
Many news agencies consider the AP gospel. So if you thought a fair number of publications were calling to “pregnant people” and “sex assigned at birth,” expect that number to substantially increase.
Language is changing rapidly, and not by evolution but force. As we continue down the written word’s just-paved woke road, things are going to get unprecedentedly sophisticated. What if you’re writing about multiple people, all with different preferred pronouns and gender identities? But what about if you’re writing an article on reproduction? You might end up with coverage such as, “Jane had (f)are sperm count checked, while Dick had her eggs assessed. But George said his body wasn’t necessarily why Bob couldn’t impregnate xyrs, because ve had innitself been injured playing women’s soccer. Concerning Demon and Ruth, xenogender Xena Mystery and the birthing individual Paul, it was a matter of timing. beeself, perself, xemself, eirself, and bunself.”
Professional news coverage will be interesting as the AP Stylebook catches up to woke culture.
-ALEX
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