This month's Atlantic Monthly includes an excerpt from Diane Ravitch's new book, The Language Police, which is either amusing or horrifying depending on your point of view. The piece is a simple list of words and phrases banned by major textbook publishers and their suggested alternatives. The piece is not online.
The best among many:
Blind leading the blind, the (banned as handicapism)
Busybody (banned as sexist, demeaning to older women)
Confined to a wheelchair (banned as offensive; replace with "person who is mobility impaired")
East, Eastern (banned as Eurocentric)
Elderly, the (banned as ageist; replace with "older people")
Fairy (banned because it suggests homosexuality; replace with "elf")
Founding Fathers, the (banned as sexist; replace with "the Founders" or "the Framers")
Huts (banned as ethnocentric; replace with "small houses")
Jungle (banned; replace with "rain forest")
Little person (banned as offensive; replace with "person of small stature")
Lumberjack (banned as sexist; replace with "woodcutter")
One-man band (banned as sexist; replace with "one-person performance")
Regatta (banned as elitist)
And the best (Stalin’s minions couldn’t have done better):
Mother Russia (banned as sexist; replace with "Russia, vast land of rich harvests")
FROM FOX NEWS.
The best among many:
Blind leading the blind, the (banned as handicapism)
Busybody (banned as sexist, demeaning to older women)
Confined to a wheelchair (banned as offensive; replace with "person who is mobility impaired")
East, Eastern (banned as Eurocentric)
Elderly, the (banned as ageist; replace with "older people")
Fairy (banned because it suggests homosexuality; replace with "elf")
Founding Fathers, the (banned as sexist; replace with "the Founders" or "the Framers")
Huts (banned as ethnocentric; replace with "small houses")
Jungle (banned; replace with "rain forest")
Little person (banned as offensive; replace with "person of small stature")
Lumberjack (banned as sexist; replace with "woodcutter")
One-man band (banned as sexist; replace with "one-person performance")
Regatta (banned as elitist)
And the best (Stalin’s minions couldn’t have done better):
Mother Russia (banned as sexist; replace with "Russia, vast land of rich harvests")
FROM FOX NEWS.
