1. Gender Neutral Language

For many in the Cooperative, language is not merely a tool that we use, but one which reproduces the structures of power in our society. Gender, as one of these social forms of power, is also reproduced through language. Because of this, many members of the Cooperative feel strongly that we consider carefully how gender bias creeps into our everyday languages, including the communication between members of the Cooperative and externally.

1.1. Tips on Writing in a Gender Neutral Style

Generally, many of the arguments for gender-neutral language boil down to using gender-neutral instead of gender-specific pronouns when discussing a person whose gender is unknown, when the person prefers to not categorize themself as belonging to a specific gender, or when a party is of mixed gender. See the wikipedia article below for more information.

1.2. External Links

• [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_neutral_language Article on Gender-neutral language in wikipedia]