I think someone at the University of Manchester in Great Britain has some mommy issues. Maybe some daddy issues too. Perhaps they’ve got “mommy and daddy” issues.
Whatever it is, they got problems. How else do you explain a guide for academics who write under the university’s name, that bans the use of the words “mother” and “father”? They also banned the words “man” and “woman” although in a world of a million different genders, that’s not surprising. They are to be replaced by the words “individual” and “guardian.
They’ve also banned the words “diabetic” for some reason (did the Sugar Plum Fairies complain?) and have eliminated age discrimination in one, titanic blow by banning any reference to seniors, “elderly”, “pensioners”, “youngsters”, and the dreaded “mature workforce.”
With Mother’s Day in Great Britain celebrated this weekend, what does the good little woke child do? Wish the individual who gave birth to you “Happy Guardians Day”?
The “Guide to inclusive language” for its staff, made by its “equality, diversity and inclusion team” forgot to include one vital group; anyone with two brain cells functioning.
Amusingly, the logic also applies to other words too. Researchers will now be told to make the following updates to their vocabulary:
- Artificial or synthetic, rather than man-made
- Humankind, not mankind
- Workforce, not manpower
- We provide cover or staff, rather than to ‘man’
It’s been a tough few years for academics who don’t subscribe to this kind of nonsense. Cockburn can only hope that Manchester University employees will, err, staff the barricades against this latest attempt to police their language.
Is this a local disease or is it spreading? My colleague Jim Treacher points me to what’s going on at Grace Church School in New York.
Woke $57k-a-year Grace Church School (@GCSchoolNYC) is telling students to stop referencing “mom” & “dad” — at their own homes! Also, students can’t ask each other “where are you from?” or use polite terms like “ladies & gentlemen."
And, of course, no “Merry Christmas.” pic.twitter.com/e78yd0qEWN
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 11, 2021
Grace Church School in New York City is warning that the terms “mom,” “dad,” and “parents” could be inappropriate because they make assumptions about kids’ home lives.
Instead of those terms, the guide recommends “grown-ups,” “folks,” “family,” or guardians. It also suggests using “caregiver” instead of “nanny/babysitter.”
Maybe they’re going to teach the kids that they weren’t “born” so much as they were “hatched.”
Grace’s guide asserts that “families are formed and structured in many ways. At Grace Church School, we use inclusive language that reflects this diversity. It’s important to refrain from making assumptions about who kids live with, who cares for them, whether they sleep in the same place every night, whether they see their parents, etc.”
The school also wants to get in the face of anyone who criticizes them.
“If the boorish ‘cancel culture’ press wants to condemn us a newly dubbed ‘Woke Noho’ school of politeness, dignity and respect, then I embrace it, and I hope you will too,” school head George P. Davison wrote.
Not very “polite” of you, Mr. Davison. Nor is it showing “respect” or “dignity” to refer to a critic as “boorish.” But then, I ain’t woke and don’t plan to be anytime soon. If that makes me “boorish,” I’ll own it.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member