Whether we like it or not, gender is important in today’s society. From the way we dress, to the mannerisms we have, to the career paths we take, almost every choice we make is constantly judged differently based on our gender identity and presentation. It is one of the very first things we take in when meeting someone new, and when we’re not sure of someone’s gender straight away it can be disconcerting for many. But over the past decade or two, more and more people are beginning to question whether we should be working harder to create a less gendered world. Making gender roles less pervasive would benefit everyone, if it means that people feel they have more freedom to make their own personal choices without being pressured by society’s expectations. It may also lead to a more inclusive environment for non-binary and trans people too, as well as people who just don’t fit into our stereotyped ideas of what ‘masculinity’ and ‘femininity’ should mean.

One way we can try to do this is by changing the language that we use. Research has shown that using gender-neutral pronouns may help to reduce the biases we have. This has already started to happen in some cases, where words have lost their associations with masculinity or femininity over time; my friends and I use the word ‘guys’ and ‘lads’ all the time to refer to a group of all girls. This is quite normal for many in my generation. However gender is so ingrained in our language and mindsets that switching to become completely gender neutral will take a lot of conscious thought for most of us. Using ‘they’ as a singular pronoun will likely feel unnatural to some before we all get used to it. But if it leads to more equal and inclusive world, then it is worth putting the work in.

People across the world are beginning to realise the effects of this. A group of German authors, comedians and academics published an open letter earlier this year calling for more gender-neutral nouns in the language. In German, everything from chairs to tables to houses is assigned a gender, and mixing up feminine and masculine words is a grammatical error. This is true for many languages, from French and Spanish to Hindi and Arabic. Such gendered speech inevitably has an effect on our mindsets; it means that subconsciously, we are always being exposed to ideas about how we should conform to our gender roles. Surely taking gender out of our language altogether would help to erase this then?

The question around language may be more complicated than this though. Some argue that by putting so much conscious effort into changing the language we use, we are making gender into a bigger deal than it needs to be. It may also harm the cause to constantly be policing peoples’ language. Being told off for the way you have always spoken might make some people less receptive to the idea that gender inclusivity should be something we think about. Perhaps, instead of making our language less gendered, we should just ensure that we are using it correctly, and not misgendering people. Some societies have taken steps towards this. For example, the LGBTQ Association puts peoples’ pronouns when introducing their committee members; this is a clear way to signpost that we should avoid assuming peoples’ genders as much as possible, and use the pronouns that they themselves feel most comfortable with.

While we can easily suggest that completely erasing gender from our language and our society might be the best possible outcome, in reality, we are such a long way away from a genderless world that this is next to impossible in my view. So at the same time as taking steps to lessen the amount of gendering we have in society, we must also be aware that at this moment in time, gender is a big deal whether you are gender conforming or not. So using the right gendered pronouns for people is important.