No more 'Manmade' or 'Mankind', US's Berkeley bans gender-specific words

re will be manholes in Berkeley, California. City workers will drop into “maintenance holes” inste.

thing will be manme in liberal city but “human-me.” And students at University of California, Berkeley, will join “collegiate Greek system residences” rar than fraternities and sororities. Berkeley leers voted unanimously this week to replace about 40 -specific words in city code with -neutral terms — an effort to be more inclusive that’s drawing both praise and scorn.

That means “manpower” will become “human effort” or “workforce,” while masculine and feminine prouns like “she,” ″her,” ″he” and “him” will be replaced by “y” and “m,” according to measure approved Tuesday by City Council. San Francisco Bay Area city is kwn for its long history of progressive politics and “first of” ordinances. Berkeley was among first cities to opt curbside recycling in 1970s and more recently, became first in U.S. to tax sugary drinks and ban natural gas in new homes.

Berkeley also was birthplace of nation’s free-speech movement in 1960s and where protests from both left- and right-wing extremist groups devolved into violence during a flashpoint in country’s political divisions soon after President Donald Trump’s election.

Rigel Robinson, who gruated from UC Berkeley last year and at 23 is youngest member of City Council, said it was time to change a municipal code that makes it sound like “men are only ones that exist in entire industries or that men are only ones on city government.”

“As society and our cultures become more aware about issues of identity and expression, it’s important that our laws reflect that,” said Robinson, who co-authored measure. “Women and n-binary people are just as deserving of accurate representation.”

When changes take effect in fall, all city forms will be updated and lists with old words and ir replacements will be posted at public libraries and council chambers. changes will cost taxpayers $600, Robinson said.

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Removing ed terms has been slowly happening for deces in United States as colleges, companies and organizations implement -neutral alternatives. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, changed a Sacramento political trition by opting ufficial title “first partner” inste of “first ly,” saying it’s more inclusive. change reflected Siebel Newsom’s experience as an actress and filmmaker focused on politics and inequality.

But formalizing shift in sweeping way that Berkeley is doing is “remarkable and sends a mess,” Rutgers University linguistics professor Kristen Syrett said.

“Anytime you’re talking about something where is t issue but you use a ed term, that immediately sends a mess of exclusion, even if it’s a dialogue that has thing to do with ,” said Syrett, who recently spearheed an update to guidelines on inclusive langu for Linguistic Society of America.

For Hel Baker, a Berkeley home caregiver, shift is a small step in right direction.

“Anything that dismantles inherent bias is a good thing, socially, in grand scheme of things,” 27-year-old said.

“I don’t, by any means, think this is great championing for equality, but you gotta start somewhere,” Baker ded.

Lauren Singh, 18, who grew up in Berkeley, approved of move, saying, “Everyone deserves to be represented and feel included in community.” t everyone agreed with new ordinance. Laramie Crocker, a Berkeley carpenter, said changes just me him laugh.

“If you try to change laws every time someone has a new opinion about something, it doesn’t make sense. It’s just a b habit to get into,” Crocker said.

Crocker, 54, said he would like city officials to focus on more pressing issues, like homelessness.

“Let’s keep it simple, get back to work,” he said. “Let’s figure out how to get homeless people housed and fed. He, she, y, it — y’re wasting my time.”

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