The Diversity Council in Australia is caution against using the words “girls” or “guys” because the collective phrases are sexist.
David Morrison, the chair of Diversity Council Australia and Australia’s Person of the Year, created a video for the “#WordsAtWork” campaign, which dedicated to “[b]uilding inclusion through the power of language.”
“The research has told us for years how language cuts people out or cuts them down,” Morrison claims in the video.
A male employee is shown approaching a group of female coworkers and referring to them as “girls.” The women scoff at being called by their gender.
Speaking to ABC News, Morrison said, “Exclusive language, gender-based language or inappropriate language, has as much a deleterious or disadvantaged effect as something where you're saying something blatantly inappropriate to another human being.”
Morrison noted he has been focused on not using the word “guys” in particular.
"I have now removed that from my lexicon as best I can, I think it's important,” Morrison stated.
In a piece on the Huffington Post, Lisa Annese, Diversity Council Australia CEO, said, “focusing on ‘guys’ misses the point.”
Annese wrote, “Let's be clear. We are not telling people what they can and can't say. We are simply asking people to put themselves in someone else's shoes and look at what they say from another perspective – and be open to changing what they have always thought is 'normal', respectful and appropriate to say.”
On the topic of the word “guys,” Anesse wrote, “We accept that many people see 'guys' as a gender neutral term. However, it should be acknowledged that while it may not bother most people, it has historically been a gender-based term and some women still feel excluded by its use. We wouldn't think of using the word 'girls' to address a group of men, so it should be possible to see why using 'guys' for all human beings can exclude.”
Other words that apparently should no longer be used to describe women include “bossy,” “feisty,” and “shrill.”
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told ABC News Breakfast, “I don't think we should try and interfere with the freedom of speech in this country to a point where people are too concerned about day-to-day conversations.”
According to its website, Diversity Council Australia is “the only independent, not-for-profit workplace diversity advisor to business in Australia.”