The ABC's of Inclusive Language: G is for Guys
“Honky Tonk Bathroom Sign” Photo via amazon.com
Mike opened the meeting the way he likes to, with praise for his team. “You guys, you did such great work this week!”
And throughout the meeting, he said things like, “Hey guys, let’s move to Q3” and “Guys! This is what we have to focus on.”
Later that day, Mike and Soo-Jin were in their regular one-on-one when she paused and said, “Hey, Mike? I’ve been talking with the other women on the team, and we’d appreciate it if you stopped calling us all ‘guys.’ It’s just not inclusive.”
Mike was surprised – and a little hurt. He prided himself on his easygoing and relaxed management style.
“But ‘guys’ means everyone!” he protested. “You know I’m including you when I say ‘you guys’ to the whole team.”
So, was Mike being inclusive? Do phrases like ‘you guys’ actually refer to everyone?
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A single word can create a whole scenario in our head. This is what linguists call the semantic framing.
We can do some easy semantic testing to see if “guy” and “guys” are universal when it comes to gender, or if they are gender-specific.
1. Soo-jin, who identifies as female, is in a restaurant and needs to use the bathroom. The first restroom door she walks by says “Guys” on it.
Does she decide this is the bathroom for her? Or does she keep walking down the hall and look for a door that says something like “Girls” or “Gals” or “Dolls”?
2. Soo-jin and Mike are sitting a table outside. Mike points his chin at two people sitting at a table in the distance and says, “Hey, Soo-jin, who is that guy over there?”
Does she think he’s referring to the person at the table who appears to be male? Or the person at the table who appears to be female?
3. Mike identifies as straight. Oliver asks him, “So, since you moved to town, how many guys have you dated? I know it can be hard to meet people here.”
Does Mike think that Oliver is asking about all the people he has gone out on dates with? Does this sound like a usual or "unmarked" question to ask a straight man?
Or does it sound like Oliver thinks that Mike dates men, and is asking only about men he has dated since moving to town?
The semantic testing in 1, 2, and 3 above tells us that the common semantic framing for “guy” and “guys” is male.
Not gender-neutral. Not universal. But specifically male.
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So, even though people use “guys” and “you guys” and “hey guys” to address mixed-gender groups of people (and, sometimes, all-female groups of people), there is a real mismatch between the semantic framing, which points to male people only, and reality.
My first principle of inclusive language is “Inclusive language accurately reflects reality.”
Using “guys” as if it represents everyone is not accurately reflecting reality.
And that’s not inclusive language.
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