one: I’m sure that I have unknowingly participated in gender writing bias; as sexual identity and sexual orientation evolve, it is important to become familiar with the appropriate words that these various communities use. People who identify with their birth sex should be identified as cisgender. As an example, approximately 20% of participants identified as cisgender women. When speaking about individuals who are transgender, the word is used as an adjective to describe people whose “gender identity, expression, and/or not conform in what is culturally associated with their sex assigned at birth” (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 2020 p.138). The appropriate words for these individuals would be “gender-non-conforming,” “genderqueer,” gender-creative, and indigenous people who identify as transgender refers to themselves as “tow-spirit.” Finally, words to avoid include “birth sex,” “natal sex,” and “transvestite” because they are considered inappropriate. Transgender is an outdated term but still preferred by some people (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 2020). Choosing a neutral voice can go a long way to eliminating bias in your writing.

References

American Psychological Association. (2020). In A. P. Association, Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (pp. 138-139). doi:https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

two: The type of bias I have committed in past assignments is using insensitive language. According to Walden Writing Center (2018-b), to help avoid bias, use specific rather than descriptive words. While doing a PowerPoint assignment for my bachelor’s degree program on underage drinking, I used the term alcoholics throughout the project numerous times. Today, knowing better, I would use alcohol abuse.

Another insensitive term I have used in the past is wheelchair-bound instead of a wheelchair user. According to the American Psychological Association (2020), using pictorial metaphors and negativistic phrases in scholarly writing is inappropriate. To reduce bias and increase my scholarly voice, the terms AIDS victim, brain-damaged, cripple, invalid, nuts should be avoided (American Psychological Association, 2020).

References

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Walden University Writing Center. (2018b). Scholarly voices: Avoiding bias. Retrieved from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/s…