Inclusive language is important but forcing everyone to say ‘pregnant people’ instead of ‘women’ is lunacy | Susie O’Brien
A BBC presenter was sanctioned for replacing the term “pregnant people” with “women” live on air. Inclusive language is important but woke warriors have gone too far, argues Susie O’Brien.
Terms like “pregnant people” and “chestfeeding” should not universally replace gender-specific words like “pregnant woman” and “breastfeeding”.
We need to acknowledge the rights of transgender people, but it’s not inclusion if the language adopted offends and marginalises the majority.
As a female mother-of-three, I don’t think my identity should be reduced to a gender-neutral parody such as the Lancet’s phrase “bodies with vaginas”, or even “pregnant human”.
While people who are gender diverse should be listened to when they express their preferred pronoun or name, outlawing terms like woman, man, mother and father is complete lunacy.
The issue blew up in the UK this week after a BBC presenter was sanctioned for replacing the term “pregnant people” with “women” live on air.
Veteran journalist Martine Croxall corrected words on the autocue while reading a script for a story about heatwaves.
“The research says that the aged, pregnant people … women … and those with pre-existing health conditions need to take precautions,” she said.
While making the correction Ms Croxall made a face, which the BBC has now ruled breached its rules on impartiality.
The broadcaster received more than 400 complaints about the issue, with about 20 escalated to their Executive Complaints Unit (ECU).
Some complainants were initially told the change of words “was done for clarity and was in no way meant to be disrespectful”. Then the BBC changed its mind.
The ECU ruled Ms Croxall’s facial expression was “variously interpreted by complainants as showing disgust, ridicule, contempt or exasperation”.
Such debates are unnecessarily divisive.
We have the woke warriors on one side trying to make things more difficult than they need to be – insisting that a woman isn’t an adult female but a “cisgender chest-feeding human with a binary biological vagina”.
And then there are the women’s-rights groups who parody and erase transgender and gender- diverse people. They are hurtful and cruel.
The rest of us are somewhere in the happy middle. We want transgender and gender diverse people to be respected and included, but don’t see why we can’t talk about women and breastfeeding.
The key is surely respecting the preference of others. If a trans person wants to be known as “they”, then they should be listened to, and it does make sense for some breastfeeding resources to be adapted for gender-diverse users.
But it doesn’t mean that every single reference to pregnancy or breastfeeding should be gender-neutral.
We must ensure non-binary and transgender people are included, valued and respected without annoying the hell out of everyone else. The Australian Breastfeeding Association takes a good approach.
Its main website and resources talk about breastfeeding mums and women, but resources for the LGBTIQA+ community use terms such as “chest feeding” and “birthing parent”.
See? It doesn’t have to be difficult or divisive, and we all lose out when two sides on this issue go to war.
