The UN Women (United Nations Women) have issued a 7-page document with instructions on how to use gender neutral language.

The paper encourages people to avoid certain terms while making suggested substitutes.

For example, the UN Women suggest we avoid using terms like “men” or “mankind.” Instead, we should choose terms such as “people, humanity, human beings, humankind.” So avoid mankind but it is ok to use, humanity, humankind, or human?

Another example is to avoid saying “man-made disaster” and replace it with “human-induced disaster”. How pedantic. The word human still contains the word man!

If you must use male or female specific terms it seems the women must be exalted over and above the man. The documents say, “Avoid: Mr. and Mrs. John Smith. Prefer: Jane and John Smith; Ms. Jane and Mr. John Smith; Mrs. And Mr. Smith (when the woman herself prefers the courtesy title Mrs.).

“This document is insulting to women, to men and to all thinking people,” said Binary spokeswoman Kirralie Smith. “The UN receives billions of dollars a year from around the world and this is what they churn out?” Smith continued, “Using clunky language and policing pronouns is not the answer to improving the lives of millions of oppressed and impoverished people around the world. Women can be proud of being called wife, mother, girl, sister. Men can be proud to be called husband, father, boy, brother. Removing gender from our language is dehumanising.”