Student is deducted a mark for using the word ‘mankind’ in an essay

A university student was deducted a mark for using the word ‘mankind’ in an essay.

Cailin Jeffers, an English major at Northern Arizona University, was stunned to find she had been penalised by her professor for using the word instead of a gender-neutral alternative.

She was docked one point out of the 50 available for her essay by her tutor, professor Anne Scott, in the subject of Critical Reading and Writing in the University Community.

Noting ‘problems with diction (word choice)’, Dr Scott commented that the student could have used the word ‘humanity’ instead.

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When marking the essay, the professor wrote: ‘I would be negligent, as a professor who is running a class about the human condition and the assumptions we make about being “human”, if I did not also raise this issue of gendered language and ask my students to respect the need for gender-neutral language.

‘The words we use matter very much, or else teachers would not be making an issue of this at all, and the MLA [Modern Language Association] would not be making recommendations for gender-neutral language at the national level.

‘I will respect your choice to leave your diction choices “as is” and to make whatever political and linguistic statement you want to make by doing so.

‘By the same token, I will still need to subtract a point because your choice will not be made in the letter or spirit of this particular class, which is all about having you and other students looking beneath your assumptions and understanding that “mankind” does not mean “all people” to all people. It positively does not.’

Ms Jeffers told college news website Campus Reform that the professor had warned students about using the word before they submitted their papers, so she decided to test the waters.

‘After our first essay we were given a list of “do’s and don’ts” based off of errors my professor found in our essays,’ she said.

‘Most of them make sense… but she said we had to be sure to use “gender-neutral language”. Included with this rule were several examples of what was and wasn’t okay to use.

‘In one of these examples she stated that we could not use the word “mankind”. Instead, we should use “humankind”. I thought this was absurd, and I wasn’t sure if she was serious.’

Ms Jeffers used the word ‘mankind’ twice in her essay. When she was deducted a point, she requested a meeting with her professor.

Ms Jeffers said: ‘She told me that “mankind” does not refer to all people, only males.

‘I refuted, stating that it DOES refer to all people, she proceeded to tell me that I was wrong, “mankind” is sexist, and I should make an effort to look beyond my preset positions and ideologies, as is the focus of the class.’

After the meeting, Dr Scott sent an email to the whole class.

In it, she wrote: ‘In a class such as this, wherein the course goals, discussions, readings, and assignments are all focused on what makes us “human” and the assumptions we make about such a concept, it is crucial that we also understand what our word choices mean a great deal and have consequences in terms of what we reveal about our assumptions about ourselves and others, and the world generally.’

The professor said the issue went beyond political correctness.

(Main Picture posed by models: Rex)