In June of 1991 I graduated from high school and moved away from my hometown. I thought I was too well read, intelligent and open-minded to live with rednecks. I was a vegetarian punk (of the subculture, not the gender-specific ageist definition) with a curious mind, an argumentative nature, and a whole lot of growing up to do. I doubt that, even as an aspiring writer, I had considered inclusive language. Then came the wave of "political correctness" and my introduction to anarcha-feminism. I haven't been the same since.

By 1993 I would have fully agreed with Ms. Kakutani. I, too, had grown tired of the deluge of right and wrong and the effort of keeping abreast of correct terminology. I also felt that things had gone too far and that, indeed, "all these rules can make for some messy moral dilemmas." (Kakutani 518) Besides, I was not longer sure which spelling of women/womyn/wimmin/we-moon to use.

I now see that the pace and fervour of the political correctness movement of the early 1990s were integral in the evolution of the English language at that time. Both sides of the debate forced us to think. Herein lies the importance of the political

Inclusive language is an important stage in the evolution of the English language. Historically, women and minorities have been (among other things) excluded from politics, mistreated by medicine, and forced into subservience. This is no longer acceptable. Why, then, would remnants of a language developed under those conditions be excusable?

When I was a child, it was common to hear the word "Indian", often preceded by nasty four letter-type words. Now, we hear that less and less. It is no longer okay to say these types of things in public.

In a perfect world, gender would not matter except for in our intimate lives. No one would say "male nurse" or "female president", because gender would never come to question. We would truly believe that any of us, regardless of gender, could do or be anything that we want. Until we create that world, it is important to find language that encourages this evolution.

Now that the initial storm of word adaptation and creation has receded and stabilized a bit, inclusive language is much easier. Personally, I have had twelve years to practise observe and experiment. I feel more at ease with and less intimidated by our changing language.

Some topics in this essay:
Ms Kakutani, Ms Kakutani's, Internet Advancing, Language June, Ms Maggio's, inclusive language, political correctness, political correctness movement, correctness movement, english language, evolution english language, stage evolution, kakutani 518, evolution english,