Split Banana’s Inclusive Language Guide
Language is important. Especially right now.
Language has a huge impact. It influences how:
We describe our own feelings and identities.
We relate and empathise with one another.
We understand the world around us.
Historically, within education, we’ve seen how language can be used as a tool to restrict people’s freedom. Most prominently seen through Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, which banned local authorities and schools from ‘promoting homosexuality’.
Note the use of ‘promoting’ here. When we’re teaching history, are we ‘promoting’ war? When we’re teaching Religious Studies, are we ‘promoting’ a certain religion? No. Because the purpose of education is to inform, provide knowledge and present people’s experiences of the world. Why should this be any different when it comes to people’s understanding of themselves, their identity, their sexuality and their peers?
Section 28 essentially meant that teachers were not allowed to talk about the existence of people who didn’t identify as heterosexual. This deprived generations of LGBTQIA+ young people from seeing themselves represented in stories, films, plays or leaflets that their school provided them with as educational materials. Teachers who taught about same-sex relationships would face disciplinary action.
In 2003, Section 28 was finally repealed (and we were recently shocked to learn that in Kent, it was in place until 2010). The ripple effects of Section 28 are seismic in schools. We listen to teachers tell us they are not comfortable being open with their orientation within school. We still hear anti-LGBTQIA+ language used casually by students in classrooms. There is nowhere near enough amplification of LGBTQIA+ role models and histories throughout curriculums.
Today, some media and MPs are using the very same ‘promotion’ rhetoric against the trans community, depriving young people of the language to describe different identities. It is essential that as RSH Educators we are inclusive of all identities, especially those growing up in a world which marginalises them and leaves them at risk of increased ill mental health. Trans pupils deserve meaningful support. And our language plays a huge part in this: from respecting a pupil’s name and pronouns, to calling out harmful narratives, to being able to answer their questions and / or signpost to relevant support.
Even today there are plights to remove LGBTQIA+ content from the RSHE curriculum. Please take a moment to sign this petition if you want to protect our RSHE curriculum from going backwards.
The language we use has power. The rest of this blog will share insight into what we do.
How we approach inclusive language at Split Banana
We are…
Accountable
Within RSHE, we need to be accountable for our actions and language.
When we begin any workshop, we set a respectful space that covers this. We describe the space as ‘respectful’ rather than ‘safe’ because we cannot promise people a totally safe space all the time.
We can’t control when people say harmful things but we can control how we react to them and how we support people. Space guidelines ensure people are held accountable for their actions and language.
Additive
We want our language to expand, not restrict. This is why we often use additive language, as it includes different people’s experiences.
For example..
Girls, women and people who menstruate (as not everyone who menstruates will identify as a girl or woman)
Pregnant people and women
Mums, dads, parents and caregivers
Autonomous
We are pro-abortion and actively support the right to access safe medical and procedural abortion.
In our workshops on Sexual Health, we outline pregnancy options (abortion, adoption, parenting) as equally valid, provide clear information on how abortion works and show young people where to access support.
Along with removing shame and stigma, this helps young people to advocate for themselves.
Descriptive
Being descriptive means that things aren’t left to guesswork. A couple of ways we do this:
We use anatomically descriptive words rather than euphemisms that can be easily confused. E.G we talk about the difference (and often misnaming) of the vulva and vagina and we teach young people specific parts of anatomy. This enables them to have the right language to seek support should they need it, as well as reducing shame.
When we’re talking about bodies, we say ‘people with penises/vulvas/vaginas’. This is because body parts do not equal gender.
We don’t use terms like ‘womxn’ as this can group people together in a way that can minimise and generalise experiences. Instead, we might talk about individual identities like women, non-binary folks and men, or people socialised as girls or boys.
Reflective
We try to mirror the language that individuals use to describe their identities and experiences.
For example, generally we would use the term ‘survivor’ to describe a person who has experienced sexual assault. But if a person uses the word ‘victim’ to describe themselves, we will mirror the language they identify with, so they feel heard and affirmed.
Non-hierarchical
In RSHE, we’re not saying there's 'one right way' of doing anything, being or existing. With each topic, it’s important to cover a wide array of ways that people might interact with the topic.
For example…
Sex might be intercourse and / or outercourse depending on a person’s preference / relationship / body.
Some people might prefer relationships with one person, some people might prefer relationships with multiple people.
Some people might wait until after marriage to have sex, some people might not.
It’s about representing different experiences, encouraging respect and empowering personal choice.
Growing and evolving
At Split Banana, we don’t always get it right. But we’re constantly checking ourselves, learning, evolving and committing to positive change.
Here are a couple of things that we’re working on:
We teach about sex and different body parts and don’t assume that all bodies work the same way, but we know there are more ways that we can make our language actively anti-ableist.
We need to be more than just allies. We need to be active co-conspirators. For us, a small part of this is using terms like ‘marginalised’ or ‘minoritised’ rather than ‘minority’ or ‘BAME’. This is because Black and brown people are actually the global majority, and are actively minoritised by systemic racism, bias and white violence. There is more we can be doing as an organisation to ensure our work is actively anti-racist.
We recognise that a lot of people can feel afraid about saying the wrong thing, or offending someone with their language. But often this means that we don’t end up talking about a lot of topics - and thats when things get swept under the rug.
So be brave, try out some of the things in this language guide, and let us know if there is anything you think we could do more of.