GENDER NEUTRAL FROM TOPMAST
After opening its doors to women on warships and its combat units—first as officers and then as sailors/ other ranks—the Indian Navy is now sailing towards reducing ‘gender stereotyping’ by adopting gender-neutral language in its official communication. The navy believes that after the induction of women in all its branches, both as officers and as Agniveers, there is a requirement for adopting gender-neutral language in all official correspondence, policy documents and internal communication. According to figures provided by the ministry of defence in Parliament, 7,093 women personnel are serving in the Indian Army at present, followed by 1,636 in the Indian Air Force and 748 in the Navy.
Taking a cue from the European Parliament’s guidelines for genderneutral language in 2008 and 2018, the naval headquarters has come out with a detailed communiqué. Other countries’ navies, too, have been seeing a change in this regard. In August 2020, the Canadian navy introduced gender-neutral designations in an effort to be more inclusive, and replaced ‘seaman’ with ‘sailor’ over all ranks. Thus, former designations like Leading Seaman and Master Seaman were changed to Sailor First Class and Master Sailor, respectively.
From now on, the Indian Navy, the world’s sixth-largest naval force, will use such gender-neutral titles as ‘Mess Staff’, ‘Service Person’ and ‘Navigator’s/ Gunner’s/ Communication Assistant’ in lieu of the older ‘Messman’, ‘Serviceman’ and ‘Yeoman’, respectively. In addition, they will follow other neutral words gradually gaining ground in civil society, like ‘humanity’ for ‘mankind’ and ‘actor’ for ‘actress’.
The navy believes that the purpose of gender-neutral language is to avoid
THE NAVY SAYS GENDER-NEUTRAL LANGUAGE IS ESSENTIAL TOWARDS ENSURING THAT NO GENDER IS PRIVILEGED
word choices that may be interpreted as biased, discriminatory or demeaning by implying that the prevailing social gender—genderspecific behaviour and attitudes considered appropriate—is the norm. It believes that using genderfair and inclusive language helps reduce gender stereotyping, promotes social change and contributes to achieving gender equality.
The navy accepts that language is a powerful medium that directly influences the perceptions and behaviours of individuals and organisations. Embracing genderneutral language is more than just a matter of political correctness; it is essential towards ensuring that no gender is privileged, and prejudices against any gender are not perpetuated. Naval HQ maintains that imbuing gender-neutrality in correspondence would act as a crucial enabler of inclusivity in the navy—firstly, to challenge subconscious bias against stereotypical gender roles; secondly, to lay the foundation for greater gender equality and thirdly, to develop cognisance of how language affects behaviours and attitudes.
As per the communiqué issued by Rear Admiral Rahul Vilas Gokhale, the navy believes that the advancement of gender equality by migrating to a gender-neutral language does not require significant resources or investment. However, it is definitely a starting point towards creating a work culture of inclusivity that fosters greater participation and cohesiveness in the service. “Conscious efforts by all personnel would go a long way in promoting gender-neutral language,” Rear Admiral Gokhle stated in his communiqué.
The Navy has also advised the use of passive or imperative statements like ‘incoming formalities are to be completed by all officers within two weeks’ in lieu of earlier ones like ‘every officer must complete his incoming formalities within two weeks’. However, age-old words like ‘master’ and ‘mate’ are deemed to be of neutral usage that do not always connote the male gender. Accordingly, ‘quartermaster’ and ‘boatswain’s mate’ are assessed as gender-neutral terms too. The navy has decided to replace terms like ‘manpower’ with ‘workforce’ or ‘human capital’, ‘chairman’ with ‘chairperson’ or the ‘chair’, ‘manning plan’ with ‘staffing plan’ and ‘serviceman’ with ‘service person’. ■