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From the 1950s to the 1980s, when people talked of 'manned' spaceflight and 'mankind' going to the stars, they meant men, not women. Women were not allowed or welcome in space. So don't go on with your bullshit about how 'mankind' means humanity.
One of these days I'll do a thread on language where it's assumed the listener or reader is male.
These terms ALWAYS include men. Always. They don't have to think about it. These terms are SUPPOSED to include women, but it's uneven. If women assume they're covered, it often turns out not to be the case.
I'm going to tell the story of when I realised that I couldn't simply 'read myself into' any male situation or character. Maybe I was 9 or 10. I loved Biggles. I painted watercolours of WW I dogfights. I wanted to be a pilot (among other things).
One day a bloke asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I said a pilot. He said 'Women can't be pilots'. (And they couldn't in Australia at that time - they were barred from this profession in both defence and comnercial). I was just profoundly shocked to my core.
I mean, this revelation just cracked the foundations of my world. When I read Biggles and all those adventure books with male characters, I read myself into them. I assumed I could have those adventures. I could be Biggles.
This made me realise I could never be Biggles. These books weren't written for me or other little girls. We were supposed to be the wives and mothers, or the nameless women - they are just called 'the woman' - in these books.
It affected everything I read. Instead of reading myself as the male characters, I'd invent new characters for me to be and imagine my own version of the stories, one where I could have a central role and stay a girl, myself.
Cos we all know the shocking figures about children's books - it is boysville out there, even now. Anyway, I've told this story before, but I just want to emphasise that representation does make a difference. Language makes a difference.
Every time a woman talks about using gender-inclusive language on the internet, there's a raft of (mostly) blokes who trot out the same arguments about why it's impossible, or why we have just misunderstood - it is VERY BORING. But still we persist!
