Page 104 - Essentials of Human Communication

Disconfirmation and Confirmation 83

● Avoid sex role stereotyping. When you make the hypothetical
elementary school teacher female and the college professor male or
refer to doctors as male and nurses as female, you’re sex role stereo-
typing, as you are when you mention the sex of a professional in
terms such as “female doctor” or “male nurse.”

Cultural iDentifiers
One way to develop nonracist, nonheterosexist, nonageist, and nonsex-
ist speech is to examine the preferred cultural identifiers to use in talking
to and about members of different groups. Keep in mind, however, that
preferred terms frequently change over time, so keep in touch with the
most current preferences (Schwartz & Task Force, 1995; Faigley, 2009).
One general guideline is to include rather than exclude; excluding
is a form of talk in which you use the terms of your own cultural group
as universal, as applying to everyone. For example, church refers to the
place of worship for some religions, not all religions. Similarly, Bible ViEwPOints
refers to the Christian religious scriptures and is not a general term for -isms on Campus
religious scriptures. Nor does the Judeo-Christian tradition include the
religious traditions of everyone. Similarly, the terms marriage, husband, How would you rate the state of racist, heterosexist, ageist,
and sexist language on your campus, using a 10 point scale
and wife refer to some heterosexual relationships and exclude others; in with 1 being “totally absent” to 10 “used very frequently.”
most of the world they also exclude gay and lesbian relationships.
Consider the vast array of alternative terms that are inclusive
rather than exclusive. For example, the Association of American University Presses (Schwartz
& Task Force, 1995) recommends using place of worship instead of church when you wish to
include the religious houses of worship of all people. Similarly, committed relationship is
more inclusive than marriage, couples therapy is more inclusive than marriage counseling,
and life partner is more inclusive than husband or wife. Religious scriptures is more inclusive
than Bible. Of course, if you’re referring to, say, a specific Baptist church or married hetero-
sexual couples, then the terms church and marriage are perfectly appropriate.

race and nationality Some research finds that the term African American is preferred
over black in referring to Americans of African descent (Hecht, Jackson, & Ribeau, 2003).
Other research, however, concludes that “a majority of blacks in America today do not have a
preference (Newport, 2007). Black is often used with white, as well as in a variety of other
contexts (for example, Department of Black and Puerto Rican Studies, the Journal of Black
Studies, and Black History Month).” The American Psychological Association recommends
that both terms—White and Black—be capitalized, but The Chicago Manual of Style recom-
mends using lowercase. The terms Negro and colored, although used in the names of some
organizations (e.g., the United Negro College Fund and the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People), are not used outside these contexts.
White is generally used to refer to those whose roots are in European cultures and usually
does not include Hispanics. Analogous to African American (which itself is based on a long tradi-
tion of terms such as Irish American and Italian American) is the phrase European American. Few
European Americans, however, call themselves that; most prefer to emphasize their na-
tional origins, as in, for example, German American or Greek American. People of color—
a more literary-sounding term appropriate perhaps to public speaking but may sound Communication
awkward in many conversations—is preferred to nonwhite, which implies that whiteness Choice point
is the norm and nonwhiteness is a deviation from that norm. The same is true of the Objecting to
term non-Christian: It implies that people who have other beliefs deviate from the norm. Disconfirmation
Generally, Hispanic refers to anyone who identifies himself or herself as belonging to A supervisor at work persists
a Spanish-speaking culture. Latina (female) and Latino (male) refer to persons whose in using sexist, heterosexist, and racist lan-
roots are in one of the Latin American countries, such as Haiti or Guatemala. Hispanic guage. You want to object to this type of
American refers to U.S. residents whose ancestry is in a Spanish culture; the term includes talk. What options do you have for voicing your
Mexican, Caribbean, and Central and South Americans. In emphasizing Spanish heri- objections? To whom would you address these
objections? What would you say?
tage, however, the term is really inaccurate; it leaves out the large numbers of people in the