Want to be inclusive? You need anti-oppressive content
I wrote a two-part article for Catalyst, outlining why inclusive content is great, but it’s not enough. We need to go further.
If we’re serious about tackling ageism, classism, ableism, sexism, racism (and other interlocking -isms) then we need to create anti-oppressive content.
In part one I look at:
the limitations of inclusion,
how inclusion thinking can soften our ambition and obscure the reality of intersecting systems of oppression,
why we need anti-oppressive communication instead.
In part two, I present 12 practical tips for how to create anti-oppressive content, explaining:
how language can cause harm,
why language shows and perpetuates oppressive power structures,
simple ways to break the gender binary,
why simple writing is inclusive writing,
how to apologise if you make a mistake.
You can read it on the Catalyst website, or below.
Want to be more inclusive? You need anti-oppressive content
Language is part of liberation. When we take racism, sexism, ableism, cissexism, heterosexism, classism (and other interlocking -isms) out of our content, we’re helping to create a more equal world.
We often call doing this 'using inclusive language' (or inclusive content). While being inclusive is a valuable aim, we actually need to go further.
In part 1 of this article, we’ll look at:
Why language reflects power structures
The problem with inclusive thinking
How anti-oppressive thinking expands our ambition
Why inclusive thinking doesn't tackle oppression
What anti-oppressive content looks like
In part 2 we share 12 practical ways to create anti-oppressive content.
To start, let’s look at why language matters.
Language reflects power structures
“Because old white dudes have ruled our culture for so long” writes Amanda Montell in Wordslut, “And language is the medium through which that culture was created and communicated, the time has come to challenge how and why we use language the way we do, and how we think about it in the first place.”
Language reveals and reflects power structures. When we question words, we question the power dynamics buried beneath them.
As Montell says, “something as simple as an address term or curse word might be reinforcing a power structure that we ultimately don't agree with.”
The problem with inclusive thinking
Inclusive thinking can make us more likely to:
see society as a club, and ourselves as gatekeepers ‘allowing’ some people inside the club
try to let more people inside, instead of rewriting the membership rules, or dismantling the club completely
focus on individuals and interpersonal behaviour
aim to tolerate difference, instead of rewriting the standard for who’s ‘normal’ or ‘different’
imagine discrimination as an inside/outside binary, so we forget the complex interlocking systems of oppression that structure our lives.
Kat Holmes calls this the 'shut-in-shut-out mental model' of inclusion.
Holmes compares inclusion to a circle. On the inside, there is mainstream society. On the outside, people of marginalised genders, races, disabilities, religions, language, and other traits.
“In the shut-in-shut-out model, what is the goal of inclusion?” asks Holmes. “Is it for the people inside the circle to graciously allow people outside it to join them?”
Many scholars, like George Dei, see inclusion as “making a new space, a better space for everyone.” That goes far beyond the shut-in-shut-out model of inclusion. But it’s not easy to actually do.
In my experience, we tend to default to the shut-in-shut-out model of inclusion. Language can shape our thoughts, after all. When I think about inclusion, I think about children’s games, clubs or conversations. I don’t think about rewriting the rules of the game, dismantling the club itself, or changing the conversation into something else, like a dance.
Inclusion should mean more than shut-in-shut-out, but it’s hard to keep that meaning in our minds.
How anti-oppression expands our ambition
Focusing on anti-oppression, rather than inclusion, is the way to keep our inclusion efforts in the right place.
To develop this more radical, anti-oppressive approach to content, we need to understand systems of oppression.
Inequality is created and sustained by intersecting systems of oppression. There isn’t one club we can be inside/outside, but countless intersecting ones, created by systems like racism, ableism and heterosexism.
bell hooks called the overlap imperialist white-supremacist capitalist heteropatriarchy. Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza calls it kyriarchy.
Whatever you call it, we live in an unequal world. That inequality was created by systems and policies. And we can change them, just as we can change our language and our mental models.
Inclusive thinking doesn't dismantle systems of oppression
Inclusive thinking can soften our ambition, encouraging us to be a bit kinder, a bit more welcoming. But it’s not going to dismantle centuries-old oppressive systems.
We have to challenge them directly.
“The opposite of racist isn’t not racist, it’s anti-racist”, says Ibram X. Kendi.
Kendi’s scholarship tells us that if we don’t name, challenge and dismantle racism, we’re complicit in it.
We can extend Kendi’s thinking to other systems, too. We could say:
The opposite of sexist isn’t not sexist, it’s anti-sexist.
The opposite of ableist isn’t not ableist, it’s anti-ableist.
The opposite of classist isn’t not classist, it’s anti-classist.
Anti-oppressive content can help us break free from these interlocking -isms.
What anti-oppressive content looks like
Anti-oppressive content encourages us to:
Give up harmful words and phrases, and also the concepts attached to them,
Stop perpetuating bias, and also rethink how bias is created in the first place,
Stop centring dominant groups’ needs, and also rethink our ideas of who’s neutral, normal and important.
Anti-oppressive content:
Names and makes visible systems of oppression,
Re-positions marginalised groups (the people we’ve been made to think are marginal, irrelevant or low status),
De-centres dominant groups (the people we’ve been made to think are good, normal or important)
Exposes and resists stereotypes, discrimination and exploitation,
Removes moral judgements, so people can get what they need, without stigmatising or blaming them,
Shows hope and possibility, to create a world that welcomes and celebrates difference.
So how do we do it?
In part two we’ll explore:
tools and tips to help you figure out whether something is anti-oppressive,
resources to help deepen your knowledge,
concrete actions you can take right now to create anti-oppressive content.
How to create anti-oppressive content
Language is part of liberation. When we change our words, we’re helping - word by word, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph - to build a more just world.
In part 1, we looked at:
the idea of inclusive content
why inclusion doesn’t go far enough
why we need anti-oppressive content instead.
In this article, we’ll get into how to create anti-oppressive content. You'll also find some more resources at the end.
12 practical tips for anti-oppressive content
1. Know that language can harm
“Words, like sticks and stones, can assault; they can injure, they can exclude” say the authors of Words That Wound.
That’s true of slurs, threats and insults. But even well-intentioned phrases can harm people.
Saying “ladies and gentlemen”, for example, implies there are only two genders, even though there are many genders. It can erase people who don’t identify as men or women. You could say everyone, everybody, folks, colleagues or friends instead.
“In the wrong hands, speech can be used as a weapon. But in the right ones, it can change the world” – Amanda Montell.
2. Be accurate
When we’re used to a word or phrase, we may not question its literal meaning. For example:
It’s often correct to call it male violence against women and girls, not violence against women and girls. Men tend to be the perpetrators. Not naming men makes them invisible, suggests that it’s natural, and can suggest it’s a problem for women and girls to solve.
In many parts of the world, global heating more accurately reflects the scale of change than global warming. (And the phrase ‘climate change’ was initially popularised because it sounded less scary than global warming.)
People living in poverty are made poor, by systems and policies. (For a detailed discussion, read my article about service users and the ‘them and us’ narrative in the charity sector.)
What words or phrases are popular in your sector? Do they describe people accurately, or do they suggest they might be responsible for situations and systems they didn’t create? Think of some phrases you could rewrite, to name the issue more accurately.
3. Don’t centre dominant groups
Men are often seen as normal or neutral humans. From crash test dummies to office air conditioning, we find ourselves living in a world built for men. We also set Whiteness, heterosexuality, being cisgender, being neurotypical - and many other dominant cultural attributes - as our standard of ‘normal’.
“If someone begins their story with ‘I saw this person the other day’, chances are that hearers of that story will most often understand this unmarked person to be a middle class White man until further specified” says Scott Kiesling.
If we only mention someone’s race or gender when they’re not White, not male, not cisgender (and so on), we’re reinforcing their legitimacy as the invisible standard against which other groups are measured.
To challenge this, avoid dominant group generalisations (like calling a mixed gender group of people ‘guys’).
Try to decentre dominant cultural traits like Whiteness, maleness or heterosexuality. It could be as simple as saying: this person is White, they’re male, they’re heterosexual.
4. Abandon the gender binary
Many of us were taught there are only two genders. Phrases like ‘ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls’ reinforce this gender binary.
But there are many genders, not two. Try saying ‘all genders’ or ‘every gender’ instead of both.
Using gender-neutral titles like ‘chair’ instead of chairman or chairwoman also helps avoid mis-gendering someone.
Get into the habit of saying your pronouns. You can include them when you’re introducing yourself, along with your name. You can put your pronouns in your social media bios, video chat display name and your email signature.
Feeling confused by pronouns? Lal Zimman says we all already know how to ask for, remember and use these important pieces of information. Because it's a lot like getting someone’s name right.
We know:
You can’t guess someone’s name from looking at them
You could guess their name, but you may be wrong.
There are many names, not just two
Forgetting or deliberately mis-using someone’s name can be very harmful
If you get it wrong, you quickly apologise and then commit to getting their name right next time.
That’s true of pronouns, too.
Get comfortable with:
Saying your own pronouns
Asking for someone’s pronouns, (remember, they’re not ‘preferred’ or ‘chosen’, they just are their pronouns)
Making a brief, sincere apology if you get it wrong.
For more tips, read my blog on how to be more LGBTQIA+ inclusive.
5. Learn how to apologise
We all make mistakes.
When you make a mistake, don’t self-flagellate. It’s more helpful to:
Recognise you did harm (don’t deny, attack or try to blame the person who was hurt)
Take ownership (say ‘I’ or ‘we’ if appropriate)
Say sorry (without any 'ifs or buts')
Keep it short, clear and sincere
Say what you’ll do differently next time
Focus on not making the same mistake again.
6. Commit to constant learning
Language is always changing. That’s not a bad thing; it’s a sign of social progress. We can feel glad when our content goes out of date. It may be a sign that society is becoming less oppressive.
Learn from others
Some of my favourite Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok creators are people that talk about their experiences of ageism, ableism, racism, classism and more.
But we shouldn’t fetishise people’s identities. They’re great to follow because they talk about a massive range of issues, not only their lived experiences. So follow them because they’re funny, and insightful, and because they wear great outfits. And when you follow them, you’ll also expand your worldview.
@Dillon_Nadia (also on Instagram as @AutisticBlackGirl)
TikTok
Learn from style guides
There are some brilliant inclusive content style guides out there. These are a few of my favourites:
Of course, language changes. Processes like pejoration, the euphemistic treadmill and linguistic bleaching all mean that once-progressive terms can move into being slurs. So some of this guidance will go out of date. But that’s okay!
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7. Avoid euphemisms
Phrases like ‘special needs’, ‘challenged’ or ‘differently abled’ are euphemisms. They’re attempts to talk about someone’s disability or difference, without naming it directly.
We tend to use euphemisms for topics that are seen as shameful, harmful or unclean. We sidestep the issue, because it’s not considered polite or respectable. But there’s nothing negative about disability.
Instead use language that’s:
Clear.
Specific.
Affirmative.
It’s clear, specific and affirmative to say ‘uses a wheelchair’, for example. It’s pejorative to say ‘is confined to a wheelchair’ or ‘wheelchair-bound.’ It’s not accurate, either. Wheelchairs can liberate people.
8. Understand intersectionality
Intersectionality is the idea that systems of oppression intersect.
A Black trans woman, for example, is harmed by the overlap of racism and sexism (misogynoir) and cissexism and sexism (transmisogyny). As a queer, White, cisgender, middle class woman, I’m free from many of those -isms. So it can be misleading and unhelpful to group us both under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella, when our life experiences are radically different.
In some cases, umbrella terms are useful. If we’re genuinely talking about everyone that isn’t cisgender, then we’re not hiding behind a generalisation.
But ask yourself: am I genuinely talking about a whole group, for example, all people of colour? Or am I actually talking about Black people, in which case I should just say Black people?
9. Write for everyone
We can’t separate anti-oppressive language from accessible content.
People are disabled by the barriers society puts up.
Inaccessible content can disable us. For example, audio content, that doesn’t have subtitles or a transcript, disables deaf/Deaf/hard of hearing people from accessing it.
Using simple language, for example, helps almost everyone. It avoids euphemisms, and may help us stop centring dominant groups. It’s also clearer and easier for everyone to remember, whether they’re tired or dyslexic, distracted or dyspraxic.
Read my tips for simple writing to find out what simple writing is, why it matters and how to practise it.
Some accessibility best practices:
Create alt text for meaningful images
Write descriptive hyperlinks
Avoid jargon, idioms or cultural references (unless you explain them clearly in context).
10. Make no assumptions
You can’t tell someone’s race/gender/disability status from looking at them. And you can’t tell their preferences, like whether they use person-first or identity-first language.
For example, most autistic people in the UK prefer identity-first language (“I’m autistic’) not person-first language (“I’m a person with autism”). But everyone’s different. So even if 90% of a group prefers one approach, you should always check.
“If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism” - Dr Stephen Shore.
We can apply this to any identity. If you’ve met one Deaf person, for example, you’ve met one Deaf person.
11. Ask people
“How do you describe yourself?”
“How do you identify?”
“What pronouns do you use?”
Asking someone about their gender, race or sexuality out of context could be rude or discriminatory.
When might it be rude?
You’re just asking to satisfy your own curiosity. You don’t need to know that information. Maybe you see someone in public and you’re confused because their gender presentation is ambiguous (side note: you can never tell someone’s gender from looking at them). Asking them might satisfy your curiosity, but it could also make them feel singled out and unsafe.
There’s no gain for them. You’re curious about some aspect of their personal life, like their sexual orientation. But that information doesn’t help them get a better experience, deeper understanding or more tailored support from you. You’re just asking for you.
You judge them for this identity. They’re just trying to live their life, but you want to know something about them so you can decide if they’re good or bad, acceptable or unacceptable. Clearly, not okay.
By contrast, it’s good to ask people if:
Asking them for this information will help you to support them, understand them better or deepen your connection.
You’re genuinely in relationship with this person. Maybe they’re a stranger, and you’re interacting for five minutes in a checkout line, but you see them as a real person. You know they’re not there to satisfy you own curiosity about other people’s genitals, backgrounds or lifestyles.
You respect and value them.
If it’s relevant, and you’re polite, then asking someone about their identity can be more inclusive. It helps you understand who they are, reflect that back to them, and show them that you see and respect their full identity.
It can feel awkward to ask, but it’s much better than trying to guess their gender/sexuality/race and getting it wrong.
12. Share what you learn
Correcting harmful language can be simple. Politely point out what the person has said, explain why it may be harmful, and then explain what they could say instead.
“I noticed you said [phrase]. I used to say that, but then I learned why it’s harmful. Now I say this instead.”
Correcting pronouns can also be easy.
“Just so you know, Ashley’s pronouns are they/them.”
You can also reply by using the correct name, pronoun or alternative word.
Keep up the momentum
Are you ready to create anti-oppressive content? Start today, and keep sharing your journey, so you can bring other people along too.