#because language is RIDICULOUS and pronouns can be UNCLEAR

[einsteinbrosofficial]

Begging on my hands and knees for you all to recognize that communication is a two way street

[delimeful]

the end of being alone (3)

Ch 1 | Ch 2 |

warning: mentions of fear, crocodiles, discussion of teeth

-

Logan found himself grateful that he’d made arrangements to postpone their other jobs for a bit, because it looked as though they’d be staying firmly on this planet’s surface for a while.

There had been all of one attempt to bring Virgil aboard the Mindscape, and it had resulted in a significant amount of crying from both the child and Patton. Whatever circumstances had led the Human to this planet, it had left them deeply fearful of any sort of spacefaring vessel.

… This did not annul Logan’s suspicions about smuggling, though he was careful not to say as much in front of Virgil. The child was keen, and any time the fact that they were a Human was mentioned, they withdrew and began displaying body language that Logan believed indicated a desire to flee. Checking that exits were still there, putting space between themself and any of the Mindscape’s crew, anxious tics, and so forth.

Needless to say, they avoided the topic.

However, to Logan’s surprise, the child didn’t seem at all adverse to basic questions about themself. Understanding their responses was rare, of course, but the kid was picking up on Common with a shocking quickness, and Roman had turned out to be rather talented at interpreting their gestures when they didn’t have the right words.

The data that Logan had collected from these inquiries was both strange and intriguing. He’d carefully woven a mental list of it all.

1. Virgil seemed to identify by he/him, though whether that was an actual gender preference or simply a child wanting to be called the same pronouns as the three of them was up for debate. Either way, Logan seriously doubted that there was any way to convey the nebulous concept of gender through a language barrier, so he let the matter lie.

2. After eating too fast, Virgil would convulse slightly in a semi-rhythmic pattern for a short period. He didn’t seem alarmed or pained by this, only slightly irritated when it would interrupt him mid-sentence. The condition of ‘hiccups’ was thankfully temporary, since it made Roman quite jumpy. For their tiny, squeaking nature, Patton had called them ‘hicchirps’, which was ridiculous, but Virgil seemed to enjoy any and all wordplay that made it through his grasp of the language, so Logan stowed his complaints.

3. Virgil was terrified of the locals. Despite being plainly evident, this observation didn’t make sense at first, seeing as the nearby town consisted primarily of native Hiiynal and a few offplanet transfers, none of which could be described as particularly dangerous or violent. After a few days of gentle questioning and no reprimands for not answering, Virgil finally told them that the locals would ‘chase monsters far away’ and so he couldn’t risk getting near. Questioning was temporarily halted in favor of showing the Human the art of shadow symmetry, for purely scientific reasons, of course. 

(Supposition: Human children enjoyed movement games.)

4. While the synthetic meat from the ration kits was accepted by Virgil, he showed a surprising preference for sweeter food items, such as fruit and sugar crystals. Seeing as Humans were rumored to be obligate carnivores or even raw flesh-eaters, this was a strange discrepancy. Virgil had even eaten some of the leafy vegetables Logan had brought, face pinched up in disgust but insisting that eating ‘greens’ would make one tall. It was unclear to Logan what color had to do with nutrients or growth. He was also slightly alarmed at the implication of Virgil being short for his age.

5. Virgil seemed, for all intents and purposes, fixated on Roman.

The latest data point was a work in progress. Logan hadn’t mentioned it to Roman himself, because the Cravon was already fairly worked up over everything the Human did as it was. Nobody seemed sure if this jumpiness was because of the Human child, or on behalf of it.

Still, it was present in little ways. For example, even as he answered Logan’s latest series of questions, his gaze would occasionally flicker up from his hands to Roman, who sat at the mouth of the little cave, carefully peeling more fruit. It wasn’t about the food; Patton had taken it upon himself to make sure the child knew he only had to ask to get something to eat. No, this  ‘almost-staring’ was a frequent occurrence, no matter what Roman preoccupied himself with.

“You were saying you met… Susan… when another predator was attacking it?”

Virgil nodded, hurriedly looking back to his hands. “It was a big bite monster, and Susan was loud crying, so I did, uh,” he lifted his arms up, hands spread wide, “this, and I was loud at it until it ran away. Like raccoons back on Dirt.”

Dirt was apparently Virgil’s name for his home. Logan hadn’t heard of ‘raccoons’ before. He decided not to get sidetracked. “I’d estimate the creature you saw was a Lifel. They are the natural predators of Humlilts.”

“Natural?” Virgil mimicked.

“It means ‘of nature’,” Logan attempted to clarify, gesturing around them. “In the wild.”

Virgil only grew more confused with the wide, encompassing gesture. “Sky? Was not flying.”

Logan glanced at Roman, checking that he was still preoccupied. Patton was back at the ship, contacting a friend for advice. There seemed no better opportunity if he wanted to avoid overwhelming Virgil.

“Virgil, would you like to try something new?” he asked, carefully neutral. It wouldn’t do to put any pressure on the child.

The Human squinted at him slightly, quick to use his most common phrase. “Will it hurt?”

“It will not hurt,” Logan replied, ignoring the tightening in his core with careful practice. It always felt so wrong, that a mere pupa would be so familiar with hurt. “I will always tell you if something might hurt.”

“Mmm.” The Human hummed, the way he always did when they told him such things. Like he wasn’t sure if he could believe it. “What’s it?”

“What is it,” Logan corrected automatically. “It is something I can do, to show you new words. Want to try a little bit, first?” That was the phrase they used for new foods, but it applied well enough to mindsharing.

Virgil clenched and unclenched his hands for a moment longer before nodding, going a little tense like he expected something unpleasant. Logan held a hand out to him, waiting until he’d reached out in return to start sharing.

Small, simple flashes of images and sensations. Quiet forests, shallow oceans, clean air. Plants, bugs, animals, humanoids, living and dying and living again. Nature.

Virgil had pinched his eyes closed immediately at the start of the low-level telepathy, and Logan only had a moment to worry that maybe it had hurt him in some manner.

Then, there was a feeling of recognition. Without a moment to spare, Virgil had grasped the nature of the Vidi and was projecting his own thoughts. Walking on a crunchy leaf-covered trail with other Human young, a winged insect emerging from a cocoon, the crack of thunder and heavy rain on a windowsill. Nature.

“Wow!” Virgil whispered, imprint thoughts flickering like flames, too quick for Logan to really see. “You see into heads!”

Logan pulled back slightly, offering a bit of content-smug in return to the Human’s awe. “That is one way of framing it, yes. So, you understand what I mean, about the Lifel being a natural predator?”

“Carnivore,” Virgil mumbled, and then offered image-thoughts of several creatures that Logan could only assume were from the deathworlder’s home planet. He watched with morbid curiosity as Virgil remembered a clip from a screen, displaying large ungulates with twisting horns crossing a river, and then being dragged underwater by a dark, writhing shape.

“That’s a crocodile,” Virgil told him, his eyes still closed tight in concentration. “They’ve got big teeth and they do death rolls. They look like alligators, but I know they aren’t because gators live in Florida.”

“Florida?” Logan asked. He wondered if perhaps ‘gators’ were kept in captivity for species preservation. Or perhaps they were too dangerous left in the wild?

Virgil showed him a memory of a long, reptilian form with a narrow, tooth-filled jaw. It was wading steadily through a swimming pool, not paying any mind to Virgil, who was sitting with his legs dipped in the pool, watching in fascination. “I lived there!”

“Oh,” Logan managed, his ears going numb with fear at the idea of a child being so near a creature like that. “So it would seem.”

The Human patted him carefully, a gesture of comfort. “It’s okay. The bad guys didn’t take any gators or crocodiles from Dirt. Just people.”

Virgil’s words trailed off, a sense of melancholy overwhelming him. Rather than find out more about the Human’s past, Logan felt an unreasonably strong urge to stop that sadness. “Could you perhaps tell me more about these… ‘crocodiles’? You seem to be quite informed on them.”

“I had a book about them,” Virgil managed, slowly dragging his thoughts away from his abduction. “Did you know some crocodiles have a… a ‘biting force’ of five thousand pounds?”

He had lapsed into English, the sentence sounding well-recited, but Logan still got the general idea of what he meant, and a strong image of a picture book, covered in writing he couldn’t read but still understood. If Logan was right about the measurement conversions, the fact was terrifying.

“That’s very interesting,” he mused, because terrifying and interesting often went hand in hand. “Are there any other predators that can bite like that?”

Virgil scrunched his face up in thought. “Maybe sharks. Oh, but for sure a T. Rex!”

Logan saw a very concerning glimpse of a large fish with too many teeth before Virgil’s mind switched to a cartoon depiction of a larger creature with also too many teeth. He was beginning to see a trend in deathworlder species. “I… see.”

“They’re all dead, though,” Virgil told him sadly, projecting a memory of a huge display of bones. He then seemed to perk up, glancing over at Roman again. “Except for in space!”

Logan narrowly avoided laughing out loud, covering his throat before the vibrating chirps could get far. So, this was the truth behind the Human’s interest!

“Roman is not a ‘dinosaur’,” he clarified, once he felt composed enough to do so. “In fact, I believe he rarely even eats meat.”

Virgil squinted at him. “Are you sure? Maybe he’s a secret dinosaur.”

Logan wiggled his fingers thoughtfully. “I suppose we’ll just have to check.”

---

“Roman, would you come here for a moment?”  

Roman looked up from his task, immediately suspicious. Logan sounded strangely amused, like he was on the brink of laughing at him. That was never a good sign.

Still, the Human was looking over at him with those wide, strange eyes, and he wasn’t about to run away. He got to his feet, leaving his pile of dana peels behind as he crossed the cave floor. “What is it, dear esteemed companion who would never take advantage of me?”

“I need you to show us your teeth,” Logan said, very much not being a dear esteemed companion who would never take advantage of him. Roman resisted the urge to hang his head in resignation. He should have expected this. The Ulgorii was shameless when it came to exploiting his friends for science.

“How about absolutely not?” he replied, because there were actually limits to his tolerance for shenanigans, and one of those limits was threat-displaying at a baby Human.

“Hold on, look,” Logan said, and then bared his own ridged teeth with a click.

The Human did his small grimace-smile back, entirely unphased. They both looked to him expectantly. Roman felt as though he was being ganged up on.

“Um,” Virgil said, painfully tentative, “please?”  

Roman felt extremely ganged up on.

He squatted, tail keeping him perfectly balanced, and pulled at the corner of his mouth to show some of his teeth.

“Woah,” Virgil breathed.

“See how the back teeth are narrow but dull? They’re designed to crack bones and get to the marrow at the center,” Logan narrated, like the nerd he was. “Roman doesn’t have the small incisors or sharp molars required for proper full-time carnivores.”

Roman almost reminded his crewmate to use small words, but Virgil seemed to get the idea, leaning uncomfortably close to stare. He then opened his own mouth, like he was planning to take a bite out of something, displaying a shocking number of tiny little bone-teeth crammed inside. Some of them were uncomfortably sharp.

Rather than attack anyone, though, Virgil touched his own teeth, carefully inspecting the shape of them. Roman resisted the urge to get him to sanitize his hands. Kits would be kits, he supposed.

Logan was patiently watching as Virgil pointed to each tooth in turn, and he obligingly recited the name of each type of tooth for the kit. His two lower arms took frantic notes on Human jaw structure, probably to prepare more elaborate meal plans better suited to a deathworlder diet. The kid soaked every bit of information in like a sponge.

Finally, after a long moment of thought, he announced, “My ‘lower canine’ is going to fall out in close time!”

“Soon,” Logan offered, always quick to interpret the Human’s occasional nonsense Common. “'My lower canine is going to fall out soon.'” And then, after a moment’s pause. “Wait, it’s going to what?”

And then, because Roman’s day needed more nightmare fuel, the kit bared his tiny fangs at them and poked one with his tongue, revealing that it did indeed seem to be sickeningly loose. In fact, Roman could see a few other gaps in the curved row of teeth, some with little bits of bone peeking out.

“Stars above,” Roman said, feeling a little faint. Logan was already interrogating a very confused Virgil on whether or not losing teeth was indicative of an illness or not.

“They’re just my little teeth,” Virgil told them, seemingly unconcerned with holes in his mouth. “I get big ones later.”

“There are plenty of species that have milk teeth, but to have their adult set not fully-formed by the time the milk teeth are ready to fall out…,” Logan quickly devolved into muttering, hands flicking.

“Doesn’t that hurt?” Roman asked despite himself, eyeing the kit just in case he was going to burst into tears all of the sudden. Roman himself had lost one or two front teeth before his next set had fully formed, and each time it had felt like biting on hot metal.

“Nuh-uh.” Virgil seemed to have moved from confused to amused, still not entirely sure what the fuss was all about. “Not unless I,” he mimed pulling on the tooth, and Roman made a click-click-click of parental don’t-do-that chiding before he’d even fully registered the alarm he’d felt at the motion.

Virgil clicked back at him curiously, sounding exactly like a tiny version of an exasperated parent. Roman tucked his face against his shoulder, unsure if he should laugh or despair.

This Human was really going to be the death of him.

[thecreatvre]

we’re posting our apps so enjoy this hot mess !!

STATS

Chosen skeleton: The Creature

Full Name: Tango

Age: Unknown

Gender: Agender

Pronouns: He/Him

Faceclaim: the black beast alien from Attack The Block (first choice), Tom Hardy as Venom (second choice)

(NOTE: Okay, so, kind of unconventional first FC choice, I know! But here’s my reasoning: I don’t know what FC Gecko will end up with, but it’s safe to say their appearance will be reasonably humanoid, with recognizable facial expression, clearly spoken, etc. And it’s interesting to me that Gecko and the Creature, both sweet personalities, have such wildly different assigned team personas. So it makes sense to me that the Creature would be the opposite of Gecko in looks; unrecognizable emotion, very un-humanoid, just really foreign and alien to look at. So much so that, no matter how nice the Creature is, the public perceives him as a horrible ragebeast, and that differing perception will be super fun to play with in terms of social commentary. The black beast doesn’t have the sort of emotional range typical for an FC, but, that’s what will make him interesting me for to play and others to interact with: his outward expression will be a language all of its own, that the team will have learned to identify!)

HEADCANONS

Tango is distinctly unhappy with his promotional catchphrase. Other members of the team get, “Anybody can be a hero!” or “Not all heroes wear capes!”. He gets: “RARGH.” This is due to the fact that the trial of his first catchphrase went poorly, due to the shape of his mouth leading to unclear language. “Be good to each other!” was widely heard by the public as “Baguette each other!” and the youths of the day started to use baguette as slang for fuck. One Million Moms were furious.

Tango’s former costume looked absolutely ridiculous on him, but despite some grumbling whenever he had to be stuffed into it, he wore it with real pride. He still keeps it in his room; it symbolizes everything he wanted out of life. Connection, being a part of something, having a family, and doing good.

He has only one possession from his time before the team – a set of military style dogtags. They are battered and dented, and look kinda chewed on, but Tango keeps them polished and as pristine as he can. Since he doesn’t remember if he has a real name, the dogtags are where he got his name from: TS-062 is stamped on the front. TS turned into Tango Sierra via the NATO alphabet, turned into just Tango.

Refers to all animals as dogs, and takes great pleasure pointing out every animal he sees. The winged things around the city? Dogs. The little creatures in the sewers? Dogs. Tango once attempted to petition Price for an official team pet dog, and didn’t understand why Price turned him down on account of not being able to house a great white shark in the building. It’s unknown exactly why he thinks all animals are dogs, but no amount of persuading changes his mind.

Tango thinks the Exemplar initiative is extremely important for the world, and he especially thinks the inclusion of mutants and aliens is important. He knows he’ll never be accepted into human society, and his inclusion in the team is the closest he’ll ever get, but he finds it reassuring to be included in the cartoons and the figurines and the merchandise. Humans might fear him, but he thinks they’re adorable (with their weird eyes and their fragile limbs and spindly fingers), and he’s happy to use his strength to help protect the world that has provided him with things like pizza, the internet, and music.

He has a whole playlist the team devised to help get him in the mood for Big Scary Ragebeast time. It includes Ukrainian hard house, German industrial, American thrash metal, Swedish pop-punk, etc.

Technically speaking, Tango is blind. In that, he doesn’t have eyes. Not in the typical sense, at least. Through scattered photo-receptive cells on his skin, he has a rudimentary form of sight, somewhat blurry and lacking in color. His great sense of smell and hearing tend to make up for it, but he doesn’t seem to realize that his eyesight is bad. Never ask him to get you the red mug on the counter, because he’ll come back with the blue one that Tallahassee spat in. Yikes.

THEME SONG

Radio – Rammstein

Specifically, these lyrics in particular:

We weren’t allowed to belong Couldn’t see, talk, or hear anything But every night for one or two hours, I disappeared from this world Every night a little bit happy, My ear so close to the world receiver

Radio, my radio I let myself get sucked into the airwaves My ears become eyes Radio, my radio So I hear what I can‘t see Secretly satisfying my wanderlust

Every night I secretly climbed onto the back of the music laid my ears down on the wings singing quietly into my hands Every night and again, I just fly away with the music Floating this way through brightly-lit rooms No borders, no fences

It’s a song about the singer’s experience as a young boy in East Germany before the Berlin Wall fell, when western music and media was banned. A common practice was listening to pirate radio at night, for a couple of hours, listening to foreign music in the secret of their own bedrooms, as quietly as they could so they wouldn’t be heard.

For Tango, being cut off from the world for the past fifteen years, media will have played an enormous part of how he tried to stay connected. Obviously he wouldn’t have been forbidden to do so, but he would have kept it private anyway, dreaming of a time where he wouldn’t be locked up, if such a time would ever be possible.

PARA SAMPLE

1983:

“PLEASE. NO MORE… HE-MAN.”

You wouldn’t think a creature like Tango could sound so pitiful; but he groaned nonetheless in a voice that sounded like gargling broken batteries, fangs ill-suited for human language.

He didn’t know why some of the team insisted on watching He-Man so regularly, so early in the morning, but it had become a wake-up call for him. Sleep, interrupted by a blaring theme song, which he could hear even from his bedroom. It meant that, every morning, he lumbered into the common area, a greeting yawn turning into a sad plea. Every morning, they ignored him.

“HE-MAN… BAD,” Tango insisted, desperate. On screen, the much-celebrated hero swung his loincloth to-and-fro. Half of the team looked entranced; the other half were trying to ignore the commotion by making themselves breakfast. Bacon and eggs and pancakes and cereal, pleasant enough smells, especially the bacon. Just a regular morning.

Like every regular morning, he shambled into the kitchen, and plonked himself down in the middle, a heap of black fur that somehow managed (without eyes!) to give the sad puppy dog stare at Tallahassee. The routine continued: Tallahassee patted him on the head, and slipped him some bacon.

“THANK,” Tango rumbled happily, and set about chasing after the others and their respective breakfasts.

[truly-fantastic-me]

Debunking Enbyphobia and Panphobia

“the lgbt has become such a trend. pansexuality? nonbinary? demigender? when i was a kid, it was simple. there was lesbian, gay, bi and trans and thats it. and i’m not using any pronouns for anyone except male and female pronouns. i just find any gender neutral pronouns ridiculous. sorry. please dont force your pronouns down my throat.”

Okay there are many things wrong with this statement. Judging by your claim, you do not seem to know anything about anything outside of the LGBT acronym and that’s okay. But please do not claim to know whether these identities are “real” or “fake.” Because you only look like a fool.

Pansexuality has been a word since 1917 to denote the idea that “the sex instinct plays the primary part in all human activity, mental and physical.” Of course, it was at a time when we, as a species, did not have very much information about human psychology. While bisexuality is attraction to two or more genders (i.e. men and women, men and nonbinary, women and nonbinary, agender, genderfluid, demigender, etc) pansexual people can be attracted to all genders and/or regardless of gender.

As for nonbinary people, (and do not that bigender, agender, demigender and genderfluid is under this umbrella) while the term genderqueer came into popular use in the late 1990s, the term had it’s development in the mid 90s and implemented far earlier concepts of nonbinary identites, such as androgyny. While the terms may be new, but the concept of genderqueer is not new. For example: Kristina of Sweden. Historians know her as “the Girl King” She was assigned female at birth, but she would very often dress in men’s clothes and participate in men’s activities. She was described to have a masculine physique and was described to have a low pitched voice, similar to that of a man’s. She refused to get married and shared a bed with her lady-in-waiting, La Belle Comtesse. She reigned over Sweden in the mid 17th century.

Another example would be Hatshepsut, the female pharoah who ruled over Ancient Egypt as a man. She was in power for twenty years and was described as one of Egypt’s most prosperous rulers, profitable traders and prolific builders. But after her reign ended, her nephew Thutmose III assumed the throne and most of Hatshepsut’s inscriptions and iconography was destroyed, her name and title removed and monuments of her image vandalized. Supposedly an effort by Thutmose III to ensure the legitimacy of his son’s Ascension to the throne. She basically remained forgotten until she was discovered in the 20th century.

While it’s true that women had more rights in ancient Egypt than other civilizations, a female pharoah, at the time of her reign was mostly unheard of. At first, Hatshepsut took the unconventional method of combining male and female iconography in her statues, as many early depictions of her is shown as the body of a woman with a traditionally male headdress and dressed in an ankle length gown. In later depictions, she fully presented as a King, supposedly with a beard and muscles.

No one knows for sure the gender identity these people would’ve gone with today. One could argue that they were just very masculine women, but one can’t know for sure.

As for the misgendering thing and the “ridiculous” pronouns, referring to someone as they/them is not grammatically incorrect. People say these pronouns all the time when they are unsure of the persons gender. Example: “To each their own.”

As for the other “ridiculous” pronouns, a lot of them are derived from other languages. For example: “ze” is a Gheg Albanian dialect word, of unclear origion. But it appears in Czech and Dutch. So they’re not as far-fetched as you might think. I do understand they can be hard to say, so some nonbinary people I talk to go with they/them pronouns for auxiliary reasons.

Nobody “forces pronouns down your* throat” by asking you to use the correct pronouns when referring to them. I dont think you know what that means. Its one thing to have trouble saying the pronouns and ask for an auxiliary set but another thing entirely when you absolutely refuse to. If you willingly and knowingly use the wrong pronouns for someone, you are forcing pronouns on them. You are forcing them to be like how you expect them to and forcing them to be the gender you want them to be. Please do not act like a victim when someone gets upset at you for willingly misgendering them.

I understand that pansexuality and nonbinary identites would not make much sense to you at the moment, and that’s okay. I understand that this is your opinion. But there are facts that refute your opinion easily. I hope this makes sense. And I wish you well.

[bizmediaweb]

8 Ways to Make Your Social Media Channels More Gender Inclusive

Over the past couple of years, it’s become especially clear that social media is a powerful tool when it comes to discussions about gender equality. So, in celebration of International Women’s Day, and our commitment to #PressForProgress, we’ve put together a list of simple ways to make your social channels more gender inclusive. Of course, it’s impossible to talk about gender inclusivity without also talking about racial and LGBTQ inclusivity, so you’ll find some tips on that below as well.

You may be doing all or some of the things on this list already (good job!), but it never hurts to check-in and make sure that you’re on the right track. After all, sometimes it’s the simple things that can help make a big difference.

A gender inclusive social media checklist

1. Use gender neutral language

You want your messaging on social media to reach and engage as many people as possible, right? Avoid language that is biased towards one gender, such as “mankind”, “ladies,” or even “Hey guys!”.

Language is a powerful tool that shapes our perception of the world around us in both obvious and subtle ways. When it comes to your social messaging, applying a policy of gender neutrality—which is defined by Merriam-Webster as “not referring to either sex but only to people in general”—can be an effective way to ensure no one feels left out.

And that includes the use of pronouns like “they” instead of “he/she.” Even if you think you know the gender identity of the person or people you are interacting with, it’s best practice not to assume.

If you’re not sure a word you want to use in your social messaging is gender neutral, try checking the Gender Sensitive Lexicon published by UN Women.

2. Share multiple voices and perspectives

Try to ensure that the content you are sharing on social media is created by a diverse range of people and perspectives. There are resources that exist to help hiring managers source diverse talent. And if you’ve already made it this far into this post, I’m guessing you don’t need to be convinced of the value a diverse talent roster can bring to your business. But just in case you do, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15 percent more likely to have financial returns above their national industry peers. That number rises to 35 percent when applied to racial and ethnic diversity.

3. Use diverse stock photos and icons

We all remember the “women laughing alone with salad” meme, a collection of stock imagery that went viral due to the ridiculous nature of its subject matter. But, beyond being funny, the meme went viral because it struck at the heart of a deeper problem in the world of stock photography: the perpetuation of traditional gender and racial stereotypes. There are limited photos of women and people of colour in positions of power or careers like engineering, software development, medicine, law, and other historically male-dominated fields.

Luckily, the stock photo landscape has evolved to include several sites—such as Women of Colour in Tech, Burst, and Pexels—committed to sourcing images of diverse people in a wide range of roles. This makes it much easier for content creators to promote inclusion across their social channels.

4. Choose your emojis wisely

Most people would agree, emojis are the nearest thing to a universal language we have in this age of digital communication. So if you’re already working hard to ensure the words you’re using in your social messaging are gender neutral, why not do it for your emoji as well?

Use “yellow” emojis when addressing a diverse audience to communicate that you are not addressing one single ethnic group (or use multiple colours of emoji if trying to depict a broad audience). Also, stick to the non-gendered emoji faces—or if you must include one of the gendered emojis, try to include all genders.

Our own @aliciasanchez representing the needs of women & girls of color & survivors of gender-based violence as a member of @DOHDC‘s Integrated Advisory Committee for their “DC Healthy People 2020” community health initiative! #OnAMission 👇 https://t.co/VtkECJoDgA

— YWCA USA (@YWCAUSA) February 27, 2018

5. Remove offensive comments

If one of your posts receives an offensive comment that is misogynist, racist, homophobic, or hateful towards any group or person, remove that comment so people know that you do not tolerate that kind of behaviour on your social channels.

Even if you have the best intentions, engaging with this type of comment can actually be seen as validating to the commenter and attract similar types of responses from others.

6. Address people by their names

As per tip no. 2, it’s best not to assume a person’s gender in online communication. This is especially important for customer service interactions that happen over social media. If responding to a complaint or customer inquiry—especially in cases where the username is unclear—address the user by their username (or name, if it’s present), rather than “Mr.” or “Mrs.”, “Sir” or “Ma’am” or moniker that assumes a gender.

7. Create gender inclusive forms

If you’re running a social media account, chances are you’ve also run (or will run) some sort of contest, campaign, or survey for your followers that might require collecting information from them via a form. When collecting this information, avoid asking respondents/entrants to list their gender, race, or sexual orientation—or at least make these questions “not required” for submission.

If you absolutely must know this information, make sure to include an option like “I identify as:____” or “Prefer not to Say” in the gender and/or sexual orientation portion of the form. Here’s a guide to designing forms for gender diversity and inclusion.

Also, avoid including a “title” section—where followers have to choose between “Mr.”, “Ms.”, or “Mrs.”—on your forms.

8. Establish clear posting guidelines

If your brand manages a Facebook group or some sort of online community involving user-generated content, make sure to include posting or community guidelines somewhere in the group’s description (or pinned to the top of the feed).

These guidelines can be as detailed as you want, but are mostly used to inform members of what kind of content will not be tolerated in the group (e.g., sexist, racist, or homophobic content). They can also detail what kind of content is encouraged, and the consequences of violating the guidelines.

Posting guidelines are not meant to make group members feel like they can’t speak freely, but they ensure that group discussions stay inclusive and on topic. In fact, with a set of solid, clear guidelines to follow, your members may feel more confident joining and regulating discussions.

These are just a few of the strategies you can employ to make your social channels more inclusive. There’s surely more we could all be doing. And listening is key. So, over to you: What do you do to promote inclusivity on your social channels?

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[unifiedsocialblog]

8 Ways to Make Your Social Media Channels More Gender Inclusive

Over the past couple of years, it’s become especially clear that social media is a powerful tool when it comes to discussions about gender equality. So, in celebration of International Women’s Day, and our commitment to #PressForProgress, we’ve put together a list of simple ways to make your social channels more gender inclusive. Of course, it’s impossible to talk about gender inclusivity without also talking about racial and LGBTQ inclusivity, so you’ll find some tips on that below as well.

You may be doing all or some of the things on this list already (good job!), but it never hurts to check-in and make sure that you’re on the right track. After all, sometimes it’s the simple things that can help make a big difference.

A gender inclusive social media checklist

1. Use gender neutral language

You want your messaging on social media to reach and engage as many people as possible, right? Avoid language that is biased towards one gender, such as “mankind”, “ladies,” or even “Hey guys!”.

Language is a powerful tool that shapes our perception of the world around us in both obvious and subtle ways. When it comes to your social messaging, applying a policy of gender neutrality—which is defined by Merriam-Webster as “not referring to either sex but only to people in general”—can be an effective way to ensure no one feels left out.

And that includes the use of pronouns like “they” instead of “he/she.” Even if you think you know the gender identity of the person or people you are interacting with, it’s best practice not to assume.

If you’re not sure a word you want to use in your social messaging is gender neutral, try checking the Gender Sensitive Lexicon published by UN Women.

2. Share multiple voices and perspectives

Try to ensure that the content you are sharing on social media is created by a diverse range of people and perspectives. There are resources that exist to help hiring managers source diverse talent. And if you’ve already made it this far into this post, I’m guessing you don’t need to be convinced of the value a diverse talent roster can bring to your business. But just in case you do, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15 percent more likely to have financial returns above their national industry peers. That number rises to 35 percent when applied to racial and ethnic diversity.

3. Use diverse stock photos and icons

We all remember the “women laughing alone with salad” meme, a collection of stock imagery that went viral due to the ridiculous nature of its subject matter. But, beyond being funny, the meme went viral because it struck at the heart of a deeper problem in the world of stock photography: the perpetuation of traditional gender and racial stereotypes. There are limited photos of women and people of colour in positions of power or careers like engineering, software development, medicine, law, and other historically male-dominated fields.

Luckily, the stock photo landscape has evolved to include several sites—such as Women of Colour in Tech, Burst, and Pexels—committed to sourcing images of diverse people in a wide range of roles. This makes it much easier for content creators to promote inclusion across their social channels.

4. Choose your emojis wisely

Most people would agree, emojis are the nearest thing to a universal language we have in this age of digital communication. So if you’re already working hard to ensure the words you’re using in your social messaging are gender neutral, why not do it for your emoji as well?

Use “yellow” emojis when addressing a diverse audience to communicate that you are not addressing one single ethnic group (or use multiple colours of emoji if trying to depict a broad audience). Also, stick to the non-gendered emoji faces—or if you must include one of the gendered emojis, try to include all genders.

Our own @aliciasanchez representing the needs of women & girls of color & survivors of gender-based violence as a member of @DOHDC‘s Integrated Advisory Committee for their “DC Healthy People 2020” community health initiative! #OnAMission 👇 https://t.co/VtkECJoDgA

— YWCA USA (@YWCAUSA) February 27, 2018

5. Remove offensive comments

If one of your posts receives an offensive comment that is misogynist, racist, homophobic, or hateful towards any group or person, remove that comment so people know that you do not tolerate that kind of behaviour on your social channels.

Even if you have the best intentions, engaging with this type of comment can actually be seen as validating to the commenter and attract similar types of responses from others.

6. Address people by their names

As per tip no. 2, it’s best not to assume a person’s gender in online communication. This is especially important for customer service interactions that happen over social media. If responding to a complaint or customer inquiry—especially in cases where the username is unclear—address the user by their username (or name, if it’s present), rather than “Mr.” or “Mrs.”, “Sir” or “Ma’am” or moniker that assumes a gender.

7. Create gender inclusive forms

If you’re running a social media account, chances are you’ve also run (or will run) some sort of contest, campaign, or survey for your followers that might require collecting information from them via a form. When collecting this information, avoid asking respondents/entrants to list their gender, race, or sexual orientation—or at least make these questions “not required” for submission.

If you absolutely must know this information, make sure to include an option like “I identify as:____” or “Prefer not to Say” in the gender and/or sexual orientation portion of the form. Here’s a guide to designing forms for gender diversity and inclusion.

Also, avoid including a “title” section—where followers have to choose between “Mr.”, “Ms.”, or “Mrs.”—on your forms.

8. Establish clear posting guidelines

If your brand manages a Facebook group or some sort of online community involving user-generated content, make sure to include posting or community guidelines somewhere in the group’s description (or pinned to the top of the feed).

These guidelines can be as detailed as you want, but are mostly used to inform members of what kind of content will not be tolerated in the group (e.g., sexist, racist, or homophobic content). They can also detail what kind of content is encouraged, and the consequences of violating the guidelines.

Posting guidelines are not meant to make group members feel like they can’t speak freely, but they ensure that group discussions stay inclusive and on topic. In fact, with a set of solid, clear guidelines to follow, your members may feel more confident joining and regulating discussions.

These are just a few of the strategies you can employ to make your social channels more inclusive. There’s surely more we could all be doing. And listening is key. So, over to you: What do you do to promote inclusivity on your social channels?

Download the Checklist

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