Rosalie Maggio made a fantastic VFA debut that elicited a great deal of fan mail (you can see some of them following this current article), a shortened selection (because of space allotted) of which follows. The subject of a feminist language is something all women---particularly feminists (and non-feminists certainly should be!)---are passionate about. This column, her second, covers an important but too-rarely discussed issue.
Joan Michel
When talking about parents, here are three recommendations:
 (1) Use "fathers and mothers" or "mothers and fathers" rather than the inclusive "parents," in order to make both sexes visible.
(2) Do not assume "parent" translates to "mother"; mail on infant care is addressed "Dear Mother" and an ad for an adhesive tape makes "diapering so easy, even Dad can do it." While the reality is that more women than men are active parents, it is also reality that many more men than before are becoming involved in parenting and should be given the name as well as the game. A step in the right direction: some stores now have diaper-changing counters in both the men's and the women's restrooms.
(3) When working with children, do not assume that the child lives with both parents; many children live with only one parent, with a parent and stepparent, with a guardian, with grandparents, in a foster home, or with two parents of the same sex. Teacher David Salmela asks his elementary-school pupils to take notes home to "the adults" at their house.
Rosalie Maggio
Check out the Comments from our Readers on Rosalie's first article "Lion/Lioness"
Kay Cole, kay@mitsi.comThe word I hate the most is suffragette. They were suffragists.
Diana Mara Henry, dmh@dianamarahenry.com
What a fascinating website! Thanks for sending it. Diana Mara Henry, photojournalist of the women's movement of the 1970's and 1980's
Mary Orovan, mary.orovan@worldnet.att.netThanks for alerting me to this. Interesting, I had just talked to Kate Swift on the phone a few days before--she's doing well at 92? She talked about Maggio, said I should get to know her work, and her. Maggio's work is impressive and important. How wonderful.
Mary Ann Rossi, rossibrack@aol.com
An excellent article "On Language: You Guys" by Audrey Bilger (Fall, 2002) on the use of "guys" for both sexes is included in the book Bitchfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch Magazine (edd. Lisa Jervis and Andi Zeisler). What does it take to stop this ubiquitous sexist usage?
Elinor Miller Greenberg, Ed.D. ellie.greenberg@ucdenver.eduGood reminder....I was once called a majorette...and I never changed that...but I was not really a drum major...hmmm--
Daniela Gioseffi, Sept '09 VFA Feminist of the Month, daniela@tellurian.comYes, we poets have been avoiding poetess for years. We all call ourselves poets. No one dares call us a poetess since the late 60's. It's a big NO-NO. And heroine??? Is it a drug or a woman hero. --
Jean Richards, cyberjean@hotmail.com
Maggio's books are terrific! "Talking About People" is one dictionary every English user needs. Fabulous! Words are the tools we use to shape our reality and they can be used to empower and include or exclude and divide us. Let's be sure they are inclusive and equivalent so that all humankind is included all the time.
Elaine Bernstein Partnow, Elaine@TheQuotableWoman.com
Hooray to Rosalie Maggio's article on sexist language. Rosalie is a friend and a wonderful writer. I am a writer, an author, a public speaker and an actor (not an authoress or an actress: women were barred from performing a few hundred years back and when once they were allowed on stage, the subset actress began; most were regarded as no better than prostitutes).
 Of Sicilian heritage, ROSALIE MAGGIO was born in Texas, grew up in Fort Dodge, IA, and today lives in Pine Mountain, CA. With her seven fratelli e sorella, her best friends, she has recently co-authored "Pieces of Eight," a memoir of anecdotes from their past and e-mail exchanges from their collective present. A graduate of The College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, MN, Rosalie is married to David Koskenmaki and the proud mother of three. She reads hundreds of books every year and her hobbies include a daily walk in the woods and collecting inkwells. Among her 20 books of particular interest to feminists are the "Dictionary of Bias-Free Usage: A Guide to Nondiscriminatory Language," "The New Beacon Book of Quotations by Women," "An Impulse to Soar: Quotations by Women on Leadership," "Talking About People: A Guide to Fair and Accurate Language," "Quotations from Women on Life", "How to Say It," "Nonsexist Wordfinder: A Dictionary of Gender-Free Usage." Coming soon is "Unspinning the Spin."
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