I was also reminded that, as with racism or any other bias, victims are often the best ones to expose prejudice. We need to listen to the perceptions of sensitive women. In my own efforts to become aware of and uproot sexist thinking and language, I have bumped up against the practical difficulties in getting a language, developed during patriarchal times, to reflect the full equality of women. Our language, as well as our attitudes and behavior, are in an awkward stage of transition. Awkward though we may feel, it is imperative that each of us, male and female, contribute to the advancement of women.
Sexism is much more than a matter of hurt feelings and glass ceilings.
It is a matter, quite literally, of life and death. The progress of women means, for example, life or death for battered women in the United States, for burned brides in India, for murdered female babies in China. The use of inclusive language is important because such language helps determine the way we think and act towards women. But while it is urgent that our attitudes and language evolve, we also need to be patient with one another as we find ourselves in different stages of transition. Equality is not fostered by divisions in which we refuse to work, or pray, with those whose language we don't like.