Language is a system of symbols that we human beings use to communicate intelligibly with one another. We use this same set of symbols to communicate within ourselves, i.e. to think. If our symbols are askew, then our thinking is askew. If our symbols are prejudiced, racist, sexist, or homophobic, then our thinking and our consequent actions are prejudiced, racist, sexist, and homophobic.

When we assign a gender-biased connotation to a word, we assign a gender bias to the concept that word symbolizes. A craftsman, businessman, fireman, policeman, newsman, anchorman, mailman, salesman, or repairman is perceived as a male person. The talents and skills necessary to expertly perform the duties of these occupations are not inherent to male persons only. On the other hand, an artisan, entrepreneur, fire fighter, police officer, journalist, news anchor, letter carrier, sales agent, or technician denotes a person of either sex performing a job. When we use male-marked vocabulary, we propagate the erroneous notion that the concepts of the gender-biased words are limited to men - that women are not welcome, that women are not able, that women are not allowed. What we accept, we teach. If we accept gender-marked language, we teach gender-biased behavior. Consider deleting gender-marked words from your vocabulary. Females, Girls, Ladies

• A female is any animal of the sex which bears off-spring.
• A girl is a female child. She lacks experience, maturity, and judgment.
• A lady is a female appendage to a gentleman. Her status and her name are determined by a man - either her father or her husband. Mrs. John Jones is not an entity in her own right. She has no individual value.
• A woman is an adult female person. She has a name of her own. She has a reputation of her own. She has experience, maturity, and judgment.

When a man calls his woman companion a "girl" he diminishes himself as well as his companion. He implies she is physically undeveloped, emotionally inexperienced, and mentally undiscerning. But also, he suggests (whether or not he intends to) that he does not merit a woman, that he is not worthy of a companion with maturity, knowledge, and judgment.

Unlike many languages, English uses masculine and feminine pronouns in accordance with anatomical sexual differences. Since the sixteenth century, the male pronoun was used when either pronoun was appropriate. Using the male pronoun exclusively implies that the referent nouns are not available to women and girls. Generally, this is erroneous.

Frederick Bodmer, a distinguished Swiss philologist, wrote, "Gender concord, like number concord, adds to the labor of learning a language without contributing anything to the clarity of a statement." Perhaps it is time for she, he, her, and him to be discarded in favor of the gender-neutral it.

To promote inclusive language when citing generic examples in our work or in our advertisements, we can use given names that are common to both girls and boys: Chris, Dale, Dana, Evelyn, Fran, Hillary, Jean, Jerry, Kelly, Kim, Lee, Leslie, Lynn, Marion, Meredith, Merle, Morgan, Pat, Robin, Rusty, Sandy, Sidney, Stacy, Terry, Tracy, Val, Vivian. It is time for Kim Johnson to supersede John Doe.