Releasing & Supporting Women In Leadership, Part 2: Watch Your Language
What we say matters and our language should align with what we believe. For preachers, teachers, writers and communicators we have a particular responsibility to choose our words well. This applies when it comes to women – what we say or write communicates what we think and what we believe God’s view of women is. What we communicate conveys what we believe about the role and value of women, whether explicitly or implicitly. For many a lot of word choices can be unconscious, however if we are going to ensure that the women and girls in our churches are included and not marginalised by what is said, there are some subtle (and not-so-subtle!) changes that many preachers, speakers and writers can make. I’ve outlined below 5 steps to adjusting our language to include, rather than alienate women:
1. Talk about female Bible characters
The Bible contains some great women. It’s worth saying that again – the Bible contains some great women! The reason I say this is because in some churches you rarely hear about them. Preach about Deborah and Jael and Huldah and Miriam and Ruth and Esther; preach about Priscilla and Lydia and Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene and Phoebe and Anna and Mary the mother of Jesus and Elizabeth. Preach about the named and the nameless women. Preach about the women who were last at the cross and first at the tomb. Preach about the women who led, the women who prophesied, the women who followed Jesus, the women who spread the gospel. When we only ever preach, teach and write about the men of the Bible we send a message to the church about the value we believe God places on women and girls. Imagine if girls and boys grew up not just learning about Noah and Daniel and Joseph, but about the women of the Bible too – what a difference that could make to their view of the Bible, of God and of themselves.
2. Ensure you have a balance in your stories and examples
When you share stories, examples and quotes in your speaking and writing, if they are all by or about men it sends a message. If all the pastors, doctors, lawyers and farmers in your stories and examples are always men, it communicates to your listeners that that is who you expect to be in those roles. I recently wrote to a prominent speaker, podcaster and blogger who has a global following about a post he wrote. In the article he had referred to pastors as “he” and about pastors’ “wives”, thereby excluding women pastors and defaulting to the idea that all pastors are men. Having read and listened to enough of this person’s work it had never seemed as if he had an issue with women in ministry, yet a good number of times I read similar wording in his writing. After writing to him to highlight this I was pleased with the gracious response he gave and the changes he subsequently made to the article. A great example of a male leader showing humility and understanding the impact of his words.
3. Ditch the sexist jokes
I love a good sermon joke – mainly because I love laughing and it doesn’t take much time with me to realise that I laugh readily and easily. But sadly I’ve heard plenty of sexist jokes in sermons or statements that stereotype men and women – “jokes” about women nagging or about a mother-in-law aren’t funny; not all women love shopping or are obsessed over their appearance; not all men love gardening or hiding in their shed; “jokes” about men not being able to change nappies or use washing machines aren’t funny. I could go on but you get the picture – by trotting out stereotypes or sexist jokes, communicators reinforce unhelpful attitudes and women are usually alienated in the process.
4. Use appropriate words
Language changes – there can often be a tension in language choice between generations, but the reality is language evolves, develops and shifts; after all if it didn’t we’d all be speaking Shakespearean English. One of the things that has changed over the years is the use of the terms to apply to people; in previous generations the use of “men” to apply to men and women and the use of “mankind” to apply to all people were widely accepted as applying to both men and women. But times have moved and language has changed rendering these words outdated and sexist-sounding, when applied to both genders. The English language is not limited and offers other options (like “men and women”, “people” and “humankind”). When the word “men” is used, most younger hearers will assume the meaning to be people of the male gender, not women and men. Use of appropriate language will prompt some people to exclaim something along the lines of, “Well what am I allowed to say anymore?!”, but the good news is the English language is full of words that don’t alienate or exclude women: “chair or chairperson”, “firefighter” and “police officer”, to name a few. Unless we are making a specific point, we also don’t need to add “female” to roles (e.g. “female pastor”, “female doctor”, “female bus driver” or the particularly grating “girl boss”) as if men are the standard and women are an exception or the “other”.
5. Use a gender-inclusive Bible translation
When it comes to the language we use and the appropriateness of our words, there’s probably nowhere more important than the Bible translation we use. When we communicate the Bible to others it is important that women are not unnecessarily excluded from scripture passages. As Jeff Miller argues, “The King James Version and the pre-2011 New International Versions each include more than 1,000 occurrences of the words “man” and “men” which are not found in the Greek New Testament…gender-inclusive translations such as the NRSV, NLT, NIV 2011, and CEB are taking steps toward the character of the Greek New Testament, not away from it.”* If we ensure that when the Bible is read in our churches, that women and men are included where the passages apply to or reference both women and men, this can make a significant difference to people’s understanding of Scripture, faith and God.
These small and big changes in what we talk about and say contribute to a picture that includes women. Let’s create a culture where women hear themselves in the language used and aren’t ridiculed or excluded through our communication.
* 7 Places Where Gender-Inclusive Bible Translation Really Matters: Part 1, Jeff Miller https://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/article/mutuality-blog-magazine/7-places-where-gender-inclusive-bible-translation-really-0
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Catherine De Souza, 3rd October 2020
