Ladies and Gentlemen...Boys and Girls (Huh?!)

Let's discuss why some seemingly harmless phrases like "ladies and gentlemen" and "boys and girls" sound "off" to young ears and why you might want to think twice before addressing a crowd this way.

Earlier this year when I was on a school field trip with my grade a well-meaning person leading the activities addressed us a “boys and girls.” When they said this, my eyes immediately scanned the grade for signs of discomfort.

As a 16-year-old growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area I am aware of the importance of inclusive language regarding gender identity and expression. I am also an individual who uses she/they pronouns. More on that here.

A little context:

In our grade of about 115 students, there are about seven people who use pronouns that aren’t “she/her” or “he/him.” That comes out to a little over 6% percent of the grade. 6% is also roughly the estimated amount of LGBTQIA+ people in the country.

However, I personally know of at least 15 classmates that fall into the LGBTQIA+ category, which comes out to little over 13% of the grade.

Now, according to a survey in Time Magazine, 26% of LGBTQ+ youth identify as nonbinary in some form. Another 20% stated that they are questioning whether or not they identify as nonbinary.

At least from this data, there are a lot more people this seemingly innocuous language could offend than you may think!

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Pro-Tip: When addressing a group of people opt for gender neutral categories like: everyone, everybody, friends, and welcomed guests.

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Do you need to start building a more inclusive vocabulary so as not to inadvertently offend? Language Matters has got you covered here.