Our language is rooted in gender and how the society sees it. Many people do not consider how everyday matters in speech can emphasise stereotypical gender roles and deter gender equality. The language that people use often upholds outdated patriarchal values and promote misogyny and sexism.
Pointing that out, a video discussing this form of everyday sexism has gone viral, in which a young girl is asking some pertinent questions about gender and language.
Shared by many people including media professionals and activists, the video shows a young girl questioning her mother about why the word 'man' is used while referring to all human beings instead of 'human'. This raises the important matter on why language attributes such an importance to one gender over everyone else.
In the viral video, the young girl asked her mother why her books referred to things that were not natural as 'man-made' and not 'people-made' and if women were not allowed to build things.
"Why is it man-made? Aren’t women allowed to build stuff? Why is it not people-made?" she asked about the language that creates a kind of gender hierarchy. She pointed it out to her mother that such a reference was made in her social studies text.
Along the similar lines, she referred to the Gettysburg Address made by United States President Abraham Lincoln, where he made a proclamation that "all men are created equal". The young girl asked her mother in the video if women were created equal too.
"Aren’t women created equal too? Why don’t they say all people are created equal?" she questioned.
As the video went viral on social media, netizens came to admire the points raised by the young girl and how it challenged patriarchy.
One user said in a tweet, "It definitely isn't nice. The little one gets it but we adults don't! World would be a different place if there was gender equality and equity. #humanmade #equity #equality."
