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Unizen: A Gender Inclusive Language App

Angela D. Beckett, Kirn K. Bhela, and Megan Stewart

MET Program, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia

ETEC 531 65A 2020W: Curriculum Issues in Cultural and New Media Studies

Dr. Lori MacIntosh and Dr. Kisha McPherson

February 10, 2021

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Unizen: A Gender Inclusive Language App

Topic

This group’s chosen topic is “Concepts Related to Gender”. Our proposal is a mobile

application (app) called Unizen, which would be hosted on a website containing gender

inclusive resources. Our hypothetical teaching and learning resource is intended to create

awareness of gender constructs within language and ultimately influence a change towards the

intentional use of gender inclusive language in formal and informal education settings.

Direction

Our group has a shared passion for addressing systemic and attitudinal gender disparity

in educational settings. We have chosen to take a broad and intersectional approach to the topic

of gender through the lens of language and representation. Our hope is to create an accessible

resource that introduces both formal and informal educators into anti-oppressive practice.

Ideally this resource would enable students and educators to establish more equitable and

inclusive environments, within and without the classroom.

Curriculum and Learning Considerations

Gender Inclusive Education

In recent years there has been a marked increase in public awareness surrounding

gender inequality and gender identity. The speed at which public discourse has progressed on

social media may have left some educators hesitant to tackle the topic of gender and identity for

fear of stumbling on language. Although the practice is growing, LGBTQ2S+ gender affirming

teaching remains confined to select classrooms (Crawley & Donavan, 2020). If Dewey, as cited

by Dr. Lisa Loutzenheiser, theorizes that the goal of education is to create thinking citizens, then

curriculum must reflect modern society and the realities students encounter in the world
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(MacIntosh & McPherson, 2020). Our proposed app will provide educators and learners with the

linguistic foundation needed to explore activities that provoke cognitive dissonance, prompting

students to question or change their beliefs in order to develop empathy and understanding

(MacNamara et al., 2017). We feel that gender inclusivity can and should be pervasive in

education. Our main aspiration for this project is to provide educators and students from diverse

backgrounds the language to broaden their understanding of gender as a construct, gender

inequality, and gender identity. By doing so we hope that gender inclusive classrooms will

become the norm rather than the exception.

We view educational settings such as the classroom as a temporary and intentional

micro culture. Despite the transient nature of the classroom, it is vitally important that members

of the group are able to understand and represent ideas and concepts in similar ways (Hall,

1997). Educators are the designers of the classroom environment and have the power to set

expectations for interpersonal dynamics and behaviour (Hymell & Katz, 2019). In addition,

educators have an obligation to create learning environments that enable all students to learn.

Students who do not feel safe in the classroom are more likely to experience adverse academic

outcomes (Lacoe, 2020). It is widely reported that non conforming and gender expansive

students experience higher rates of bullying and discrimination. Even within liberal university

settings, transgender students experience high levels of stigma and discrimination from both

peers and systemic structures (MacNamara et al., 2017). By addressing gender through

inclusive representations and language across subject areas, all students will be better

equipped to navigate the world. As Grant (2012) writes, the purpose of education is to develop

critical and analytical thinking in order to function in a diverse society. Students benefit from

learning how to build relationships across differences and to respect a wide range of

perspectives and experiences.

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Disrupting Gendered Language

Parks & Roberton (2000) maintain that “culture and language are intertwined such that

the meanings people ascribe to language affect their realities, their self-concepts, and their

world views” (p. 416); therefore, we believe that creating inclusive and anti-oppressive

environments within a society must begin with its language. Studies have shown that North

American culture normalizes androcentrism, a harmful and pervasive form of sexism, that

places the male viewpoint or experience at the centre of society (MacArthur & Cundiff, 2020).

Language is a powerful tool that functions as a communicative device to transfer information

between people, but also to express and reinforce social categorizations and hierarchies,

contributing to the construction and communication of gender (Maass & Arcuri, 1996). This is

why we propose to create a resource to inform and transform androcentric and

gender-oppressive language. While using this resource, we hope educators will be inclined to

critically reflect on their own language use, for as MacArthur & Cundiff (2020) tell us, it is vital

that “teachers, professors, clinicians, and practitioners of all types” actively consider how their

speech “may include, exclude, or infantilize people based on gender” (p. 81).

Gender inclusive language is slowly gaining ground in everyday usage, and although

“overt and hostile forms of prejudice decline over time with societal shifts, implicit sexism

remains problematic” (MacArthur & Cundiff, 2020, p.81). By exposing students to these implicit

biases, this app may help speed up the prominence of gender inclusive language in our society.

Malt et al., as cited in Harris et al. (2017), says that “the influence of language on thought is

obligatory or at least habitual: thought is always, or under most circumstances, guided by

language.’’ (p. 932). Therefore altering the way one thinks must involve self-reflection of one’s
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habitual language use and consciously working to change any problematic language found

therein.

As Swim et al. (2004) tell us, people use gender exclusive language, and more

specifically, sexist language, for a variety of reasons. For instance, people may do so “because

it is traditional, it is ingrained in current written and spoken language and can be difficult to

change, people lack knowledge about what constitutes sexist language, people do not believe

that such language is sexist, or people are attempting to protect established social hierarchies”

(p. 117). Although some people may use gender exclusive language deliberately and refuse to

use gender inclusive language based on sexist or other detrimental beliefs, some people do so

mindlessly, relying “on whatever is the standard form without considering the possibility of

alternative language forms and their implications for social change” (Sczesny et al., 2015, p.

951). Unfortunately, it is the latter usage that perpetuates subtle sexism in society, which may

continue to go unnoticed if these unintentional and subtle behaviours are not explicitly defined

as sexist, and further defined as problematic (Swim et al., 2004). It is important to note that

“even minor changes in wording can critically influence people’s perceptions of themselves and

others” (MacArthur & Cundiff, 2020, p. 82). Therefore, we expect this app to help illuminate

sexist, gender exclusive, and otherwise problematic language use that is currently overlooked

and considered normative in everyday speech.

Studies have shown that an inherent male bias in language exists unless active

instruction is introduced with the intent to disrupt such language bias (Lindqvist & Renström,

2019). In this way, we consider our app a form of culture jamming, “a resistance movement

dedicated to disrupting such domination, control, and cultural influence” of androcentric norms.

(Chung & Kirby, 2009, p. 36). We believe that all people have a duty to inform their

understanding regarding gendered language use in order to challenge their habitual behaviour,
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which is why the app should be considered a resource for all users, teachers and students alike.

Swim et al. (2004) tell us that explicit instructions illustrating sexist language greatly improves a

learner’s ability to detect sexist language, which is the first step to eliminating these implicit

biases (p. 120). Additionally, research cited in Sczesny et al. (2015) shows that people who

possess more favorable attitudes toward gender equality are also more apt to use

gender-inclusive language (p. 944). This suggests that with increased use of our app, people

who hold positive attitudes toward gender equality but had been unaware of the hidden biases

and sexism in their everyday speech, will begin to intentionally use more gender-inclusive

language. Even the name of our app has been purposefully crafted to promote

gender-inclusivity. We had originally considered calling our app Citizen, meant to represent a

gender-neutral user; however, Lindqvist & Renström (2019) tell us that traditional neutral words

still contain a male bias, whereas actively created gender-neutral pronouns eliminate this bias.

Thus we altered the name to Unizen, combining the words ‘unity’ and ‘citizen’, hoping to

represent users of all genders and identities.

Learning Resource Type

The resource we propose is a mobile application (app) called Unizen that provides a

safe environment for youth to communicate and discuss topics related to gender. Due to

technical limitations, we will not be developing a complete app, but rather providing mockups of

the app and explaining the functionality. The app will be described and displayed on a website.

This website will also include additional resources that can be utilized by teachers to engage

students on concepts related to gender.

We decided to design an app because it is estimated that 95% of teenagers in the

United States have a smartphone and check their phones at least 150 times a day

(Buckingham, 2019). As most youth have access to a smartphone constantly, educators can
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leverage this new medium to connect with students. Furthermore, Buckingham (2019) argues

that media education has become a prerequisite in modern day society because it is a staple in

most lives. A smartphone accessible app will create opportunities for deeper learning inside

and outside of the classroom.

The purpose of Unizen is to encourage youth to engage in equitable behaviour. The app

will include features that allow users to look up words related to gender to inform themselves

and others. For example, if a student hears someone refer to another person as a ‘sissy’, they

could learn the meaning, origin, and implications of the word by looking it up in the Unizen

database. The student (or teacher, depending on the situation) would search for the word in the

app’s dictionary database; the app would provide an explanation of the origin, useage, and

appropriateness, or potential harm of the term. To continue with our example, the app would

reveal that the word ‘sissy’ and its counterpart ‘buddy’ were, at one point in time, simply

abbreviations of the words ‘sister’ and ‘brother’. However, today the word ‘sissy’ is used “to

describe a weak or overly effeminate man”, while the word ‘buddy’ is used to denote a close

friend (Montell, 2019). The important thing to note here is that the masculine form of ‘buddy’ has

ameliorated over time into a positive synonym for pal, while the feminine form of ‘sissy’ has

become a pejorative term with negative connotations. Unizen will present this distinction and the

dichotomy between both words, even if the user only searches for the word ‘sissy’. Our hope is

that this will engage students and teachers to reflect on the gendered origins of everyday terms.

For each word in the database, there will be a discussion forum where students can

engage in critical discourse about a word or phrase. This may include sharing their personal

experiences with the word, why they think it is or is not appropriate, or any other thoughts or

questions they may have. All discussion posts will be monitored to ensure appropriate and

respectful discourse between users. All comments and message exchanges are anonymous to
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give users the freedom to express themselves without feeling judged or exposed. Users also

have the option to add new terminology to the Unizen database. User suggestions will be

reviewed by Unizen moderators before being published.

Unizen can easily be integrated into classrooms for group learning and discussions.

Teachers simply request a code and share this unique code with the classroom. This creates a

bubble within Unizen where students can engage in discussions with peers. Teachers can take

words or discussion points from the app and use it to identify focus points in the classroom to

engage in a more critical discussion. This allows teachers to understand what students are

currently experiencing and provide a safe space for discussion. Unizen will not be limited to

in-classroom use only, though. Youth everywhere can download it and join the global discussion

board. This will allow youth to connect with individuals all over the world and understand some

of the similarities and differences in language use regarding gender between countries.
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References

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