Sex vs. gender? Speech bubbles contrast between the approach of the hard-liner vs. the radical copyeditor Update to Transgender Style Guide: “Sex Versus Gender,” Intersex Considerations, Talking About Transition, and More! - The fourth major update to the Radical Copyeditor's Style Guide for Writing About Trans People
Speech bubbles containing phrases that perpetuate oppression against Indigenous Peoples Thirty Everyday Phrases that Perpetuate the Oppression of Indigenous Peoples - Language is a vessel of cultural stories, values, and norms—and in the U.S., everyday language perpetuates the oppression of Indigenous Peoples. Learn 30 terms worth questioning in terms of their origins and impact.
Dear JK Rowling and the world, Please stop employing the "cross-dressing killer" archetype. Your fictional representations are killing real-life trans women. Sincerely, Radical Copyeditor It’s Time to Reject the “Cross-Dressing Killer” Archetype: An Open Letter to JK Rowling and the World - The "cross-dressing killer" is a fictional archetype that has caused immense harm to trans communities. It's time to stop telling these stories.
Summary of the top points from this blog post What’s in a Word: Mx. - Mx. is a non-binary or gender-neutral title of courtesy, equivalent to Ms., Mrs., and Mr. Learn where it came from and the controversy over how it should be used.
The phrase "All Lives Matter," edited with red proofreading marks “All Lives Matter”? Not Until Black Ones Do - Be a radical copyeditor. When someone says "all lives matter," engage with them (particularly if you are a white person, like me), and help them understand why saying this makes things worse, not better.
"Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence; does more than represent the limits of knowledge; it limits knowledge." Toni Morrison and the Power of Language - In the words of Angela Davis, "Her words have radically altered the lives that we live."
Speech bubbles and text that illustrate how the hubbub over "concentration camps" obscures the issue Re-Humanizing Immigrant Communities in the Age of Trump: 5 Language Practices - Get five practices to center immigration justice in how you talk about, write about, and resist dehumanization and violence toward immigrant communities in the United States.
Speech bubbles and text that explain the definition and use of "enby" What’s in a Word: Enby - The word "enby" refers to a non-binary person. Find out where the term came from and in what contexts it's appropriate to use it.
Speech bubbles and text that summarize and illustrate the blog post Ask a Radical Copyeditor: Are There Limits to Self-Identity Language? - Every person gets to have full agency over the language they use to describe themself, even if those words are experienced by others as oppressive.
Speech bubbles providing examples of invalidating and validating language when writing about trans people Update to Transgender Style Guide: Avoiding Invalidating Language Traps - Announcing an update to the transgender style guide: four new sections on how to avoid writing or talking about trans people in ways that are invalidating or otherwise harmful.