The term political correctness was first used in 1987 in Alan
Bloom’s bestseller The Closing of the American Mind. In the narrow sense,
the term is associated with the protest against male supremacy over women,
and in a broad sense - it covers the sensitive topics of age, race, sex, social
and economic status, health and appearance, physical development,
unemployment, and so on

Kurochkina, Viktoriia Semenivna

Pochatko, Tetiana Volodymyrivna

Курочкина, Виктория Семеновна

Курочкіна, Вікторія Семенівна

Початко, Татьяна Владимировна

Початко, Тетяна Володимирівна

Electronic Sumy State University Institutional Repository

2  МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ СУМСЬКИЙ ДЕРЖАВНИЙ УНІВЕРСИТЕТ ФАКУЛЬТЕТ ІНОЗЕМНОЇ ФІЛОЛОГІЇ ТА СОЦІАЛЬНИХ КОМУНІКАЦІЙ          СОЦІАЛЬНО-ГУМАНІТАРНІ АСПЕКТИ РОЗВИТКУ СУЧАСНОГО СУСПІЛЬСТВА   МАТЕРІАЛИ ВСЕУКРАЇНСЬКОЇ НАУКОВОЇ КОНФЕРЕНЦІЇ ВИКЛАДАЧІВ, АСПІРАНТІВ, СПІВРОБІТНИКІВ ТА СТУДЕНТІВ   (Суми, 21-22 квітня 2016 року)              Суми Сумський державний університет 2016 163  СЕКЦІЯ  6 МУЛЬТИДИСЦИПЛІНАРНІ ГЕНДЕРНОЧУТЛИВІ ІНІЦІАТИВИ: МОЛОДІЖНИЙ ПОТЕНЦІАЛ ОСЕРЕДКІВ ГЕНДЕРНОЇ ОСВІТИ   GENDER ISSUES OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS  IN MODERN ENGLISH   V.S. Kurochkina, lecturer (Sumy State University), T.V. Pochatko, lecturer (Sumy State University) The term political correctness was first used in 1987 in Alan Bloom’s bestseller The Closing of the American Mind. In the narrow sense, the term is associated with the protest against male supremacy over women, and in a broad sense - it covers the sensitive topics of age, race, sex, social and economic status, health and appearance, physical development, unemployment, and so on.  In recent years, the use of gender-sensitive words and phrases has undergone significant changes in the English language. More and more people become more attentive to the use of lexical elements and phrases that could be perceived by women as offensive. Political correctness is manifested in the attempt not to use such language units that can hurt the feelings and dignity of an individual or a group of people, but to use appropriate positive or neutral euphemisms. The following words and expressions with no negative connotations can be used instead of those ones that contain undesirable connotations: chairman = chairperson / chair; congressman = representative / member of Congress / legislator; policeman = police officer / law enforcement officer; businessman = businessperson / business executive / manager / business owner / retailer; spokesman = spokesperson / representative; stewardess = steward / flight attendant; housewife = homemaker; insurance man = insurance agent; sportsman = athlete, etc. Such prepositive attributes as lady, female, girl, male, etc. in the phrases: lady doctor, female lawyer, girl athlete, male secretary are considered to be undesirable from the point of view of political correctness. These expressions are perceived as neglectful. In cases when it is necessary to indicate a female sex as an attribute, it is recommended to use the words female or woman instead of lady. 164  From the standpoint of political correctness, the titles before surnames such as Mr, Mrs, or Miss are considered unfair to women, putting them in an inferior position. While Mr in reference to men does not reveal their marital status, it is not about titles Mrs or Miss which have been recently replaced with a newly coined Ms, because it is comprehensive and neutral, similar to Mr. [2, c. 57] In terms of political correctness, it is desirable to change man, men, mankind with person, people, humanity in relation to both sexes. However, the situation is ambiguous because actor / actress, host / hostess, waiter / waitress and even proprietor / proprietress still remain in use. [1, c. 312] Besides, the use of the word person has not become widespread in the words postman / postwoman and milkman / milkwoman. It is almost impossible to remove man in the notions craftsmanship and horsemanship. Man- as a prefix remains indispensable in the words manhole, manslaughter, manpower. Linguistic inconveniences also arise when using pronouns. Pronoun everyone is always used with a verb in singular: Everyone goes home at the same time. However, the possessive pronoun is traditionally used in the masculine gender: Everyone must search his own heart. When addressing to students, it is usually said: Everyone must lock their own locker properly, where their is used as a pronoun in singular. In some cases, the inconveniences can be avoided by employing all instead of every.                               [1, c. 312] By the way, the pursuit of political correctness can sometimes result in some interesting logical dilemmas as, for example, in the following statements: The applicant does not have to tell us they are pregnant. If an employee becomes pregnant, he / she will be allowed the usual period of absence. [1, c. 313]  So, political correctness is a phenomenon which cannot be ignored, and, undoubtedly, it is a very important issue for teachers of English as a foreign language. After all, we strive to produce competent and efficient users of English, able to successfully communicate and properly understand the cultural aspects and background of the language. Besides, teachers’ competence in this matter will help students to increase their awareness of certain social aspects such as diversity, flexibility, tolerance, democracy and so on.  1. Blamires Harry. Penguin Guide to Plain English / Harry Blamires. – London : Penguin Books, 2000 2. http://www.digibib.tu-bs.de/?docid=00051308 

Gender issues of political correctness in modern English

SocioEconomic Challenges Journal (Sumy State University)

2 
 
МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ 
СУМСЬКИЙ ДЕРЖАВНИЙ УНІВЕРСИТЕТ 
ФАКУЛЬТЕТ ІНОЗЕМНОЇ ФІЛОЛОГІЇ 
ТА СОЦІАЛЬНИХ КОМУНІКАЦІЙ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
СОЦІАЛЬНО-ГУМАНІТАРНІ АСПЕКТИ 
РОЗВИТКУ СУЧАСНОГО СУСПІЛЬСТВА 
 
 
МАТЕРІАЛИ ВСЕУКРАЇНСЬКОЇ НАУКОВОЇ КОНФЕРЕНЦІЇ ВИКЛАДАЧІВ, 
АСПІРАНТІВ, СПІВРОБІТНИКІВ ТА СТУДЕНТІВ 
 
 
(Суми, 21-22 квітня 2016 року)  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Суми 
Сумський державний університет 
2016 
163 
 
СЕКЦІЯ  6 
МУЛЬТИДИСЦИПЛІНАРНІ ГЕНДЕРНОЧУТЛИВІ 
ІНІЦІАТИВИ: МОЛОДІЖНИЙ ПОТЕНЦІАЛ ОСЕРЕДКІВ 
ГЕНДЕРНОЇ ОСВІТИ 
 
 
GENDER ISSUES OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS  
IN MODERN ENGLISH  
 
V.S. Kurochkina, lecturer 
(Sumy State University), 
T.V. Pochatko, lecturer 
(Sumy State University) 
The term political correctness was first used in 1987 in Alan 
Bloom’s bestseller The Closing of the American Mind. In the narrow sense, 
the term is associated with the protest against male supremacy over women, 
and in a broad sense - it covers the sensitive topics of age, race, sex, social 
and economic status, health and appearance, physical development, 
unemployment, and so on.  
In recent years, the use of gender-sensitive words and phrases has 
undergone significant changes in the English language. More and more 
people become more attentive to the use of lexical elements and phrases 
that could be perceived by women as offensive. Political correctness is 
manifested in the attempt not to use such language units that can hurt the 
feelings and dignity of an individual or a group of people, but to use 
appropriate positive or neutral euphemisms. 
The following words and expressions with no negative 
connotations can be used instead of those ones that contain undesirable 
connotations: chairman = chairperson / chair; congressman = 
representative / member of Congress / legislator; policeman = police 
officer / law enforcement officer; businessman = businessperson / business 
executive / manager / business owner / retailer; spokesman = spokesperson 
/ representative; stewardess = steward / flight attendant; housewife = 
homemaker; insurance man = insurance agent; sportsman = athlete, etc. 
Such prepositive attributes as lady, female, girl, male, etc. in the 
phrases: lady doctor, female lawyer, girl athlete, male secretary are 
considered to be undesirable from the point of view of political correctness. 
These expressions are perceived as neglectful. In cases when it is necessary 
to indicate a female sex as an attribute, it is recommended to use the words 
female or woman instead of lady. 
164 
 
From the standpoint of political correctness, the titles before 
surnames such as Mr, Mrs, or Miss are considered unfair to women, putting 
them in an inferior position. While Mr in reference to men does not reveal 
their marital status, it is not about titles Mrs or Miss which have been 
recently replaced with a newly coined Ms, because it is comprehensive and 
neutral, similar to Mr. [2, c. 57] 
In terms of political correctness, it is desirable to change man, men, 
mankind with person, people, humanity in relation to both sexes. However, 
the situation is ambiguous because actor / actress, host / hostess, waiter / 
waitress and even proprietor / proprietress still remain in use. [1, c. 312] 
Besides, the use of the word person has not become widespread in 
the words postman / postwoman and milkman / milkwoman. It is almost 
impossible to remove man in the notions craftsmanship and horsemanship. 
Man- as a prefix remains indispensable in the words manhole, 
manslaughter, manpower. 
Linguistic inconveniences also arise when using pronouns. Pronoun 
everyone is always used with a verb in singular: Everyone goes home at the 
same time. However, the possessive pronoun is traditionally used in the 
masculine gender: Everyone must search his own heart. When addressing 
to students, it is usually said: Everyone must lock their own locker properly, 
where their is used as a pronoun in singular. In some cases, the 
inconveniences can be avoided by employing all instead of every.                               
[1, c. 312] 
By the way, the pursuit of political correctness can sometimes 
result in some interesting logical dilemmas as, for example, in the 
following statements: The applicant does not have to tell us they are 
pregnant. If an employee becomes pregnant, he / she will be allowed the 
usual period of absence. [1, c. 313]  
So, political correctness is a phenomenon which cannot be ignored, 
and, undoubtedly, it is a very important issue for teachers of English as a 
foreign language. After all, we strive to produce competent and efficient 
users of English, able to successfully communicate and properly understand 
the cultural aspects and background of the language. Besides, teachers’ 
competence in this matter will help students to increase their awareness of 
certain social aspects such as diversity, flexibility, tolerance, democracy 
and so on. 
 
1. Blamires Harry. Penguin Guide to Plain English / Harry Blamires. – 
London : Penguin Books, 2000 
2. http://www.digibib.tu-bs.de/?docid=00051308 


English

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Gender issues of political correctness in modern English

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Electronic Sumy State University Institutional Repository

SocioEconomic Challenges Journal (Sumy State University)