MAPping the Future

For years, women have faced broad, cultural biases and many people still believe that women cannot hold power and ranks. Gender roles and expectations, whether productive, reproductive, community management, or political, are passed down from one generation to another and often deemed as socially acceptable standards. In an earlier article of PBCWE, “Closing the Gender Confidence Gap,” we said that “the disparity in confidence between women and men stems from factors such as gender stereotypes, social perceptions, and societal expectations drilled by institutions, media, and family influence”. In a corporate setting, for example, women are more present in service-oriented and administrative roles while men still dominate the technical and manufacturing industries. In an ideal world, gender roles should not exist; rather equal access to opportunities should be the norm. Unfortunately, the gap still remains.

 

The Impact of Gender Bias

 

British writer and social activist Caroline Criado-Perez OBE, the author of “Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Design for Men”, uncovers how gender bias affects our everyday lives and examines different elements of the modern world that demonstrate the inconvenient consequence when “male” is the default form of humanity. As simple as using “man” to represent all human beings is a hint of silencing women and setting them aside – from policies, research, technology, transportation systems, product developments, and the media.

 

The author further explains that most of the time, product developers fail to include women’s needs and often create an “unintentional male bias” often masked as “gender-neutral”. For example, the average smartphone size is 5.5 inches, which men comfortably use one-handed, but is too large to fit in the average size of a woman’s hand. The context of “average” here does not accurately reflect society if women, most of the time, are discounted. Intentional or not, silencing the “female” aspect is present almost every day. The book arrives at an inevitable conclusion that the world, built for and by men, ignores half of the population. Admit it or not, we have all encountered a lot of male bias that tend not to factor women simply because of not knowing what women’s needs are.

 

Gendered and Genderless Language

 

While there are already proactive efforts to eliminate gender stereotypes, to a certain extent, these are being reinforced by cultural factors such as language and communication. The power of language and communication reveal many truths, ideologies, and perspectives about today’s society. Languages are like mirrors – it reflects how people see the world, including the supposedly “roles” that we play.

 

Around the world, there are a number of gendered languages like Spanish and French which label nouns and pronouns based on gender assignment such as “masculine” and “feminine”. Research suggests that countries where natural or genderless languages are spoken demonstrate greater extent of gender equality. On one hand, English is a natural gendered language (e.g., he or she). However, there are existing male biases such as the use of “man” to a person whose gender is unidentified or the use of pronoun “he” regardless of gender. On the other hand, Filipino is a genderless language where pronouns are not classified according to gender (e.g., siya). This speaks from an egalitarian origin of giving people of all genders access to opportunities available.

 

Currently, the Philippines is regarded as the most gender-equal country in Asia placing 17^th in the global ranking and 2^nd in Asia Pacific next to New Zealand, according to the 2021 Global Gender Gap Report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Nevertheless, the right for gender equality is still a work in progress.

 

In 2005, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) issued Memorandum Circular No. 12 which encouraged government officials and employees to use gender-fair language in all official correspondence and to avoid sexist terms. This was reiterated recently by Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo in Supreme Court Memorandum Circular No. 90-202, and quoted the CSC MC, “Language is a very essential tool in communication. It articulates the consciousness, reflects culture, and affects socialization. Hence, the need to recognize the importance of transforming language from traditional usage to a more liberating one, that which is gender-sensitive.”

 

Unlearn to learn

 

In the workplace, the way that language is used not only limits the progress we have made in gender equality but also affects the career prospects of female employees reinforced by existing biases. Understanding the relationship between gender and language can help create an inclusive environment where the firm and its employees can prosper.

 

Since its inception, the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment (PBCWE) have been working with large companies in pursuing the goal of empowered, thriving, and gender-equal workplaces. In 2019, PBCWE partnered with Engage, a business unit of regional communications consultancy firm EON Group, to create a manual and module on Gender Equality for Corporate Communications. This course offering defines essential gender concepts and explains how these can be applied to communications planning, content development, and external and internal communication campaigns. It also discusses how grammar can reinforce gender inequalities and recommends how corporate or business language can be rewritten to be more inclusive.

 

In creating this manual and module, PBCWE and EON Engage conducted focus group discussions and one-on-one interviews with business executives and managers specializing in human resource and corporate communications. The respondents from both male- and female-dominated industries gave rounded and holistic perspectives based on the actual needs of the Philippine corporate setting.

 

This offering is designed for corporate communication and human resource specialists to cascade and operationalize gender-sensitive language and to create more advocates of gender equality within their respective organizations.

 

Language matters. It’s time to view and use it as a powerful tool to influence thoughts, culture, and ultimately create more inclusive workplaces.

 

(This article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management Association of the Philippines or MAP.  The author is member of the MAP Corporate Governance Committee, and the MAP Diversity & Inclusion Committee. She is Founding Chair and President of Philippine Women’s Economic Network (PHILWEN) and Co-Chair of the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment (PBCWE). Feedback at <map@map.org.ph> and <magg@mageo.net>. For previous articles, please visit <map.org.ph>)