There’s been a lot of argument on Comment is Free on how ‘mankind’ is not sexist because ’man’ was originally for all people, not just men.

This has irked me, mostly because however true that may be in theory, in practice it ignores what man means currently and, crucially, seems to be an argument purported by men with little or no regard for how women feel at being airbrushed out like this.

Like almost everyone in the English speaking world today who hasn’t gone into etymological depth, I hear ‘man’ and I think ‘mlae’. When I hear  phrases like ‘the history of mankind’ or ” evolution of man’ , I feel left out. This world does not define me as a man, and lets face it history itself is one big male bias. So you have the ‘history of mankind’ quite literally being the history of men, with maybe one paragraph on how women got the vote . 

So yes, to my mind ‘mankind’ is sexist. And don’t get me started on people who just use ‘man’, which is still disturbingly common. 

I am a woman and when people use ‘mankind’ , to my mind it describes how male is seen as the default, how women have been othered and relegated to a niche interest and subsection. After all women have ‘women’s history and men have well history. As a woman I do feel annoyed and angry when people use mankind and other sexist phrases, regardless of whether the etymology is inherently exist or not and surely the feelings of half the human race, sorry ‘mankind’ should be taken into account just a little?

It is not ‘derailing’ to suggest that the language used to describe humanity as a whole, actually reflects humanity as a whole. Seeing as it affects our everyday lives it’s not ‘hysterical’ or ‘overly emotional’ to suggest that women’s feelings on the matter should be listened to either. 

My mum made a point re: sexist language in church, she said it makes her feel alien and not a part of the whole thing when all the hymns etc are going on about us all being ‘brothers’ in Christ and ‘goodwill to all men’. I think this point stands in general, so before you go off on a etymological tangent that has little bearing on current language usage and perception you might want to consider the 50% or so of people who might be offended by your choice of ‘non sexist’ language. Language does after all evolve and meanings and perhaps more importantly , perceptions of meaning, change.

This post by Renne caught my eye.

While the issue I am going to address is quite different I feel it has a few similarities, and her post saprked off my little rant.

I am sick of men saying such crap like ‘Ohh I’m all for feminism I LOVE women’ and then go on to say how much they ‘love’ women by basically objectifying us, patronising us and not seeing us as equal. Seeing us as some mythical ‘other’ .

This is sexism. Women are not some fabled species who need to be put in a cage and have their beauty ‘admired’. We are PEOPLE. Interact with us as you would a man, we do not need special treatment, we do not need fetishising, locking up and shoved on a pedestal to be ‘admired’. We are not same rare orchid that needs to be kept in a special locked greenhouse, we’re not some precious work of art hung in a gallery behind security lasers.

Feminism is about demolishing women as being the ‘other’ and treating us a ’special’ and ‘different’ and elevating us to a pedestal, while it may be seen as being ‘nice’,  only exacerbates this sense of ‘otherness’ and as a result exacerbates inequality.

‘Sexual harassment’. The phrase conjures up images of a dreary 1970s office block with  lascivious boss in a bri nylon suit, Benny Hill sketches and seems a distinctly old school feminist complaint. However as a young twenty-something woman who is supposed to be reaping the benefits of equal opportunities and anti discrimination laws I am still surprised at how regularly I can be made to feel uncomfortable by a lecherous comment or wandering hand. However what angers me more is the creeping acceptance of it all. If you object you are ‘frigid’ or ‘uptight’ and it’s just a ‘compliment’ , moreover many women seem to begrudgingly accept it as something that isn’t pleasant but ‘just happens’. Over the past few months, even years, I have begun to think, why should we accept this?
One particularly acute incident stands out, during the four weeks or so of summer we had me and my friend decided on a picnic in a local park. We were repeatedly harassed by a man who turned nasty, calling us ‘bastard bitches’ when we declined his advances. All this happened in bright sunlight while we were enjoying a picnic in a safe local park where schoolchildren, dog walkers and joggers ran past. I’ve complained to various male friends about incidents like this, the time I felt a hand grab my behind whilst walking down the street and turned round to be winked at by a young man, the numerous times I have had to psychically push men away from me in clubs. It doesn’t happen a lot they insist, it’s not really a problem, I’m just being an ‘awkward feminist’. Whilst there may not be a vast pandemic of lechery, it happens enough to make me uncomfortable and the majority of women I know have had similar experiences. It is the creeping acceptance that angers me most. The insistence that it’s ‘just a bit of fun’ or my favourite ‘it’s a compliment’, guaranteed to have me foaming at the mouth in tooth grinding fury. The fact is most women when they are out on the town have had to ‘rescue’ a friend from an unwanted ‘admirer’ who just won’t take no for an answer, we’ve had to endure lewd comments pointing out the bloody obvious (mostly reminding us that we posses breasts) as we go about our daily lives whether we are dressed up to the nines for a night out or relaxing in jeans and a t shirt.  The thing that sends me into unparalleled fits of rage however is the attitude of some men that we should be grateful for these insults. I don’t know any women who see being harassed as a compliment. The phrase ‘harassment’ seems to have gone out of fashion, people don’t use it. Perhaps it is seen as too severe. I see being told my breasts are wobbling or having my arse grabbed by a stranger as harassment. I makes me feel uncomfortable, sometimes unsafe and it’s unneeded.
Just today I was informed by a group of men sitting at the end of my street that I ‘was wobbling quite a bit’ and had to endure a chorus of wolf whistles as I trudged off to t the local supermarket in jeans and a t-shirt.
I don’t care how people try to justify it; This IS harassment and this is NOT acceptable.