Highlighting sex/gender vs. using gender-neutral language

There are different ways to be inclusive in your written and spoken communications. One way is to make visible the presence and contributions of women, non-binary, trans, or intersex people (or people with other gender identities) by explicitly naming these social actors instead of disappearing them in male-centric expressions or formulations.

In many contexts, however, gender is irrelevant for the purposes of communication. In such cases, we recommend using gender-neutral language—i.e., words or phrases that neither privilege nor exclude any one gender. Besides readily including people of all genders, gender-neutral wording has the additional advantage of keeping sentences clear and concise.

Similarly, in cases where the gender identity is unknown, we recommend using gender-neutral expressions so as not to misgender individuals or erase the presence of any one gendered group (for more information, see "Using gender-neutral language").