The University of Bristol, in an inclusive style guide published to their website, has issued guidance for students and staff on sex and gender. This includes ditching the use of words such as 'mankind' and 'manpower'.
Instead, they should use 'humankind' in place of 'mankind' and 'workforce' in place of 'manpower'. This is in a bid to avoid staff and students using 'unnecessarily gendered language'.
Bristol Live readers took to Facebook to share their views on the terminology ditching. Many people have grown accustomed to switching their language in recent years, with many choosing to refer to a group of people as 'everyone' or 'folks' instead of 'guys' or 'ladies' - but do Bristolians feel the latest guidance is a step too far?
Read more: Bristol University ditches words like 'mankind' and 'manpower' to be more inclusive
A few of our readers' initial reactions were along the lines of Chris Urch's, who commented, "Is the world going completely bonkers?". But Liz Lister brought nuance to the conversation when she explained why she had previously been criticised for using the word 'mankind' in a school essay.
She said, "I was corrected for using the word 'mankind' in an essay by my (male) A Level biology teacher, in about 1995. I learned, and we all moved on."
Donna Gardner agrees. She said, "I thought these terms were ditched years ago... And rightly so. I can't believe people are upset by this and actually came here to whine about it.
"These words haven't been used for years in many workplaces or educational environments." For some Bristolians, however, the change in terminology seems abrupt.
Phil Young believes there is no need for the change in terminology, commenting "I've always taken 'mankind' and 'manpower' etc. to include both men and women (and other such genders). And I understood these expressions to mean 'humankind' from the age of at least seven.
"I really don't know what the fuss is about. I am a woman and certainly don't object to the use of 'man' as a general word for all human beings.”
Justin Pursey states the terms are still frequently used by lots of people, and that certain terminology may not be have 'gendered' roots if you look at them from another angle. He said, "These terms are still used frequently by many people. If you choose not to, that's your business."
He believes "Man in this context is derived from Mann the Anglo-Saxon for Human, ergo Mankind is just a shortened version of Humankind. It has no reference at all to gender."
However, Pete Britten believes it's a good thing that language is changing. He said, "Language changes over time.
"Are all you "language is getting ruined" people still speaking like someone in a Shakespeare sonnet? It's a ridiculous argument."
Amongst the debate between Bristolians in the comments, a few loose puns were thrown around for good measure. Jade Clowting rounded off the argument with "I blame the MANagement.. Oops”.
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