Page 13 - Style Book 2020

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• According to several current stylebooks, chairperson and spokesperson should not be used in regular text unless the gender of the individual is not known.
• Use chairman or spokesman when referring to a man or the office in general; chairwoman or spokeswoman if referring to a woman. However, many people prefer chairman in all cases. Find out an individual’s preference and use that. Alternatives include coordinator, leader, presider, presiding officer, modera- tor, head, or chair (not widely acceptable).
A few more words
• Try to find alternatives to make words gender neutral. Here are some examples.
Correspondence
Mrs., Miss, Ms. or Mr.
• Since many first names are used for both men and women, it’s sometimes difficult to know the gender of the addressee. If that’s the case, do not include a social title. It’s better to leave it off than to offend the individual.
• Use Ms. if the woman’s social title preference or marital status is not known. If referring to two or more women and their marital status is not known, the plural of Ms. is Mses. (preferred) or Mss.
• If the individual has a professional or academic title, it should be used in place of a social title.
Examples
manpower mankind
manmade
man-hours
workman’s compensation workmanlike one-man-show
forefathers middleman
right-hand-man man-to-man
alumnae, alumni
cafeteria ladies assistants
men and girls man-sized job
Alternatives
personnel, work force, staff, human resources
humanity, humankind, humans, human beings, people, we, us, society
handmade, manufactured, constructed, machine-made, built by hand, hand-built
work-hours
worker’s compensation
efficient, skillful
one-person-show, solo show, one-artist show
ancestors
intermediary, contact, agent, go-between
chief assistant
one-to-one, one-on-one, person-to-person
graduates, alums school lunchroom
men and women, women and men
big job, enormous job
Dear Dr. Blackburn
Salutations
Dear Sen. Rubio
• When addressing a person not known, Dear Sir or Madam or Dear Madam and Sir is permissible.
• Gentlemen, which is the common plural for Dear Sir, can be balanced with Dear Gentlemen and Ladies. For a completely gender-neutral variation, To Whom It May Concern can be used.
• Another solution when writing to an unknown person or group of people is to use the title of the job, group or company.
Dear Registrar
Dear Apple Computer
Dear Commissioners