Re. Edited version of two non_PC examples

Subject: Re. Edited version of two non_PC examples
From: Geoff Hart <geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>
Date: Thu, 8 Jun 1995 11:42:22 LCL

Rosie Wilcox provided two examples of politically incorrect writing
and asked how one might work around them:

<<a database field indian_tribe>>
Although Rosie's suggestion of "Native American" (in Canada, "First
Nations") as a better substitute is helpful, the better solution is to
choose a different example in the first place. Why risk offence if you
don't have to? If the example is a database developed specifically for
Native Americans, ask them how they would prefer to be labeled. If the
situation is somewhere in between, it would be useful to know why the
field is called "indian_tribe" in the first place. This might be a
case of using a specific example when a generic description might work
better (e.g., "social group", "organisation", etc.).

<<a button in an application labeled "Men/equipment">>
This one's easier. Change the button to "Staff/equip." (abbreviation
to reduce button length, which is often constrained) or "Resources".
You might even split this into two buttons, one "Labor" and the other
"Hardware" or equivalent names, depending on what the buttons actually
lead to.

Harking back to the "where does an editor's responsibility end?"
debate, my responsibility includes eliminating all politically
incorrect language (with specific mention of "sexist" usage); I'd have
no problem insisting on the changes. If you lack this authority,
you'll have to rely more on persuasion.

--Geoff Hart #8^{)} <--visually handicapped, but not disabled
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

Disclaimer: These comments are my own and don't represent the opinions
of the Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada.


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