From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by Conscious Style Guide.

SPIRITUALITY, RELIGION + ATHEISM

Anne Hathaway’s Inshallah Moment Goes Viral. Here’s What It Means, and When It Can Be Used

“No human likes their important expressions or practices being abused or mocked—but most do like to be affirmed. Hathaway got it right. Here’s to more of that, inshallah.”

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

“Girl Math”: How Internet Culture Reinforces Gendered Thinking and Stereotypes

“While it may feel empowering to laugh at yourself, it doesn’t erase the stereotype. Instead, it makes the message more convincing because the humor comes with a sense of validation.”

ABILITY + DISABILITY

Words Matter: Why the “R” Word Still Hurts—and Why We Must Do Better

“Each of us plays a role in shifting the culture. That starts with pausing before repeating a trending phrase, questioning why a joke relies on putting someone else down, and being willing to speak up—even when it feels uncomfortable.”

HEALTH

Sexuality & Silence: What We Are Not Taught to Ask

“Creating space [for your patients]…requires signaling openness. It requires using inclusive language that does not assume heterosexuality, monogamy, or specific anatomy. It requires acknowledging that sexuality is relevant across the lifespan, including for older adults and people with chronic illness.”

HEALTH

Euphemisms for the Vulva: Why Words Matter for Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Care in Zimbabwe

“When euphemisms replace clear language, even the simplest healthcare becomes a negotiation with culture, stigma, and silence.”

AGE

The ‘Granny Bob’ Isn’t a Hair Trend—It’s a Lazy, Ageist Stereotype That’s Long Overdue for Retirement

“We’re told the so-called granny bob is chic, timeless, flattering—a short cut that works across hair types and taps neatly into the current nostalgia wave. Fine. So why not call it exactly that? Why attach ‘granny’ to it at all?”

JOURNALISM

Words Matter: How the Media Needs to Change the Way It Reports on Domestic Violence [audio]

“We don’t have language for what it means to specifically kill your wife…We don’t have language for the killing of pregnant women…Can we be more specific with our language and start talking about femicide?”—Karen Attiah, award-winning journalist

JOURNALISM

The New York Times Quotes Trans People Less Often Than Other Major News Outlets

“This concerning pattern, where the most prolific news outlet is also the most biased, may help explain some of the negative shift in public opinion in recent years, as well as the backsliding in civil rights for trans people in America.”

SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS

Language Used to Describe Homelessness Influences Attitudes, Survey Finds

“Describing someone as ‘a person experiencing homelessness’ can make people more empathetic and caring while referring to them as a ‘homeless person’ is more likely to trigger perceptions of personal responsibility and blame, according to new research.”

ABILITY + DISABILITY

Nike Removed Controversial Ad Right Before the Boston Marathon

“While Nike may have thought this ad would serve as some added motivation for runners grinding through 26.2 miles of pavement, it had the opposite effect on many who felt the phrasing was exclusionary and ‘pace-shaming.’”

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

Have Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner Just Made the Terms ‘Girlfriend and Boyfriend’ Redundant?

“[The word ‘partner’] bypasses assumptions about marriage while remaining inclusive of many relationship structures. Its rise has coincided with changing social norms around marriage, greater visibility of same sex relationships, and a cultural shift towards defining relationships by commitment rather than labels.”—Lorin Krenn, relationship coach

VIOLENCE

I Am Not a Survivor, I Am Not a Victim

“What is intended to be a short-term label became an identifier, one I continuously forced myself to perform.”

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

The Degendering of English

“In other cases, a gendered term exists but is almost never used: ‘authoress,’ ‘aviatrix,’ ‘executrix,’ ‘huntress,’ ‘murderess,’ and ‘usherette’ can be employed to denote gender, but female members of these groups are typically just authors, aviators, executors, hunters, murderers, and ushers.”

MISCELLANEOUS > ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Reporting On (and With) Artificial Intelligence

“The Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Network is dedicated to a radical transparency of methods and data in order to make reporting on and with AI more accessible.”

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY > PRONOUNS

A New Chinese Pronoun Opens Space for Nonbinary Identity

“Despite having been around for nearly a decade, this invented Chinese pronoun has remained on the fringes for one reason…[it’s] a hassle to type and confusing to people who are unfamiliar with it. That, however, could soon change. In September [2025], the pronoun was added to Unicode—a global standard of symbols and characters used by web developers and tech giants worldwide.”

Most Popular Posts

In the February 2026 Newsletter

• Physicians Are Not Providers: The Ethical Significance of Names in Health Care: A Policy Paper From the American College of Physicians
• What Romances by Disabled Authors Do Differently
• Most AI Assistants Are Feminine—and It’s Fuelling Dangerous Stereotypes and Abuse

Shop and Support

Photo by Uni-T.

You Need This! Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

My Next Book! When a sneaky witch lures a group of children to her house, her verbal gaffes keep them guessing at every turn. Are the kids in for a snack—or are they the snack?! Publishing on July 7, 2026, by Orchard Books (Scholastic). Written by Karen Yin, illustrated by Carolina Coroa. Preorder your signed copy now from Vroman’s Bookstore.

Diverse Picture Books: Shop at DiversePictureBooks.com for exceptional picture books that spread understanding, compassion, and joy through diverse representation.

More Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database, one of Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Websites for Writers (2023 and 2024), helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Bluesky

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

HEALTH

Physicians Are Not Providers: The Ethical Significance of Names in Health Care: A Policy Paper From the American College of Physicians

“The words ‘physician’ and ‘provider’ are not interchangeable. ‘Provider’ undermines the physician’s ethical obligations, clinical integrity, and accountability, as well as trust in the patient–physician relationship.”

ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY + RACE

What Does “Authentic” Mean—and Why Does It Matter for Travel Brands and in Travel-Related Communication?

“Travel companies interested in offering ‘authentic’ experiences anywhere must be willing to ask hard questions about their own assumptions, histories, and beliefs about these places and the people who live there.”

CREATIVE WRITING / ABILITY + DISABILITY

What Romances by Disabled Authors Do Differently

“When disabled authors write disabled characters, they often incorporate important aspects of everyday life with disabilities, such as ableist microaggressions, or medical appointments and symptoms.”

TRANSPARENCY

AI Disclosure Requirements: Navigating State Laws and Platform Rules

“Just because U.S. federal and state regulations have been slow to catch up to the AI boom does not mean that advertisers always have carte blanche to use AI systems or AI-generated content without notifying consumers.”

CREATIVE WRITING

Scriptwriter Says Adopted Children as Film Villains Is Harmful

Whether adoptees are portrayed through a fairy-tale lens or as trauma-driven villains, “both portrayals could be damaging in terms of future adoptive parents as they could think either everything will be easy or are put off because they think the children will be ‘naughty and really bad,’” says scriptwriter James Evans.

EMPOWERMENT

The One Word That Educators Can Use to Reclaim Their Joy

“That simple shift in language lifted a weight in the room. ‘Got to’ felt like obligation. ‘Get to’ felt like privilege.”

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

How Stereotypes Inform the Way Gay Men See Themselves

“Structural homophobia keeps outdated systems at play in the collective consciousness about entire groups of people, which contributes to how those people perceive and feel about themselves.”

TEACHING CHILDREN / CREATIVE WRITING

Study Finds Children’s Books Enforce Outdated Stereotypes Regarding Pain

“As well as boys experiencing pain more while girls cried more, when characters were shown helping others, boys tended to offer advice or problem-solve, while girls were more likely to provide comfort and support.”

HEALTH

For a Rare Disorder, Is Language Complicating Care?

“To psychiatrists, delusional disorders are very real, legitimate medical conditions…To many patients, however, the word ‘delusional’ carries a derogatory meaning.”

DESIGN + IMAGES / GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

Most AI Assistants Are Feminine—and It’s Fuelling Dangerous Stereotypes and Abuse

“In reality, the design choices behind these technologies—female voices, deferential responses, playful deflections—create a permissive environment for gendered aggression…When abuse becomes routine in digital spaces, we must seriously consider the risk that it will spill into offline behaviour.”

Most Popular Posts

In the January 2026 Newsletter

• We’re Talking About AI All Wrong. Here’s How We Can Fix the Narrative
• Words Matter, Including “Fat,” “Obese,” “Curvy,” and “Heavy”
• Why “Biological Sex” May Not Mean What You Think

Shop and Support

Photo by Uni-T.

You Need This! Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

My Next Book! When a sneaky witch lures a group of children to her house, her verbal gaffes keep them guessing at every turn. Are the kids in for a snack—or are they the snack?! Publishing on July 7, 2026, by Orchard Books (Scholastic). Written by Karen Yin, illustrated by Carolina Coroa. Preorder your signed copy now from Vroman’s Bookstore.

Diverse Picture Books: Shop at DiversePictureBooks.com for exceptional picture books that spread understanding, compassion, and joy through diverse representation.

More Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database, one of Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Websites for Writers (2023 and 2024), helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Bluesky

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

EMPOWERMENT

We’re Talking About AI All Wrong. Here’s How We Can Fix the Narrative

Style guidance for talking about AI, including “avoiding using it as the subject of a sentence when it is actually a tool.”

HEALTH

Words Matter, Including “Fat,” “Obese,” “Curvy,” and “Heavy”

“True respect involves not only awareness of the ‘recommended’ terms, but also remaining open to correction and feedback from the people those terms are meant to describe.”

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

A Call for Inclusive Language: Advancing a Human Rights-Based Approach to Criminal Justice at the United Nations

“Person-centered alternatives [e.g., “person convicted of a crime” instead of “convict”]…have demonstrated better outcomes for both reducing recidivism and safeguarding human rights.”

JOURNALISM / TRANSPARENCY

In AI Age, Explain How You Verify Visuals

“Anyone on the internet can claim that an image is verified and true, whether it actually is or not…That’s why, as credible journalists, it’s important you not only say content has been verified but also share how you verified it.”

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

Why “Biological Sex” May Not Mean What You Think

Tips from the Trans Journalists Association on being clear, specific, and accurate when writing about trans and intersex people.

ABILITY + DISABILITY

National Stuttering Association Calls for Respectful Language in Coverage of American Idol Contestant Jesse Findling

“The NSA encourages journalists to avoid framing stuttering as a ‘struggle’ to overcome or portraying success as happening ‘despite’ a stutter—language that can unintentionally reinforce the misconception that stuttering is a limitation rather than a natural form of human communication.”

JOURNALISM

Secretary of War? Gulf of America? In Reshaping the Names and Titles of Things, Trump Is Challenging Journalists to Find the Right Words

“Today, we explore just how editors at NPR are determining when to adopt the proper nouns that President Trump seeks to change, and when to stick with common parlance.”

PLAIN LANGUAGE

How a Plain-Language Pamphlet Created America’s Revolutionary Mindset

“By framing monarchy as a corrupt system rather than a misguided institution, Paine shifted the debate entirely. The problem was no longer a particular king or an overreaching parliament. The problem was the system that allowed such concentrated power to exist at all.”

EMPOWERMENT

Slanguage: How the Use of AI for Apologies Could Cause the ‘Canadian Sorry’ to Lose Its Soul

“An apology generated by an algorithm, no matter how polished, signals that the relationship wasn’t worth the 20 minutes it would have taken to write it yourself.”

Most Popular Posts

In the December 2025 Newsletter

• Why Can’t Lawyers and Judges Just Say What They Mean?
• Unpack Labels We Assume Everyone Understands
• Open Letter to Conversation Leaders Around Gendered Violence: Choose Your Words With Care

Shop and Support

Photo by Uni-T.

You Need This! Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

My Next Book! When a sneaky witch lures a group of children to her house, her verbal gaffes keep them guessing at every turn. Are the kids in for a snack—or are they the snack?! Publishing on July 7, 2026, by Orchard Books (Scholastic). Written by Karen Yin, illustrated by Carolina Coroa. Preorder your signed copy now from Vroman’s Bookstore.

Diverse Picture Books: Shop at DiversePictureBooks.com for exceptional picture books that spread understanding, compassion, and joy through diverse representation.

More Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database, one of Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Websites for Writers (2023 and 2024), helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Bluesky

Dear readers, I wish I had a pithy line to end the year on, but all I want to say is thank you. Thanks to all of you for reading my newsletter and giving fair and equitable language a chance. Till next year. ~ Karen Yin

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

PLAIN LANGUAGE

Why Can’t Lawyers and Judges Just Say What They Mean?

“It turns out that using plain language to ensure everyone in society can find and understand the laws, rules and judicial decisions that affect them is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to improve access to justice.”

JOURNALISM / HEALTH

It’s Political, Not Medical: Rethinking Coverage of Political Leaders’ Health

“Coverage that treats mobility devices, speech patterns or age as symbols of decline reinforces stigma, whereas coverage that focuses on how decisions are made and how institutions adapt provides useful information. The difference is subtle but significant.”

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY / VIOLENCE

Open Letter to Conversation Leaders Around Gendered Violence: Choose Your Words With Care

“Acronyms become the euphemisms that dilute the severity of the acts they describe.”

What’s in a Label? Rethinking How We Talk About Gender-Based Violence

“Every label captures something true while also missing something else. The goal is not perfection or consistency; it is intention.”

AGE

Help Wanted: Companies That Can Write Job Ads That Don’t Discriminate Against Workers Over 50

“Help-wanted advertisements with buzzwords like ‘energetic,’ ‘fast-paced,’ ‘digital native’ and ‘fresh perspectives’ abound. But these potentially ageist descriptors are problematic at best—and illegal at worst.”

JOURNALISM

Predictions for Journalism 2026: Journalists Finally Take State-Sanctioned Trolling Seriously

“Identifying the game being played and calling it out, so that audiences can understand why things are being said and not just that they are said, is critical to covering state-sanctioned trolling ethically and effectively.”

PLAIN LANGUAGE / JOURNALISM

Unpack Labels We Assume Everyone Understands

“Whatever you can do to explain our process, no matter how obvious it may seem to us, will help lessen the gap between your journalism and the public.”

ETHNICITY, RACE + NATIONALITY

IJA Releases Indigenous Identity Reporting Guide

The “Indigenous Identity Reporting Guide,” by the Indigenous Journalists Association, is a living document that offers tips and strategies for approaching the topic of Indigenous identity fraud.

Most Popular Posts

In the November 2025 Newsletter

• Travel Expert Who’s Visited 70 Countries Shares 7 Phrases Americans Should Never Say Abroad
• Doing DEI When You Can’t Use the “D”, the “E” or the “I” Word
• Plain Language Resistance: Is “Plain” the Problem?

Shop and Support

Photo by Uni-T.

You Need This! Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

Make More Space! Fans of Whole Whale will love the huggable 9” by 9” board book format. In this raucous rhyming tale about making space, 100 unusual animals try to squeeze into the pages of the book. Features an expansive double gatefold and a list of the animals. "This simple rhyming book packs a powerful message."—School Library Journal. Visit KarenYin.com/Books to learn more.

Diverse Picture Books: Shop at DiversePictureBooks.com for exceptional picture books that spread understanding, compassion, and joy through diverse representation.

More Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database, one of Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Websites for Writers (2023 and 2024), helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Bluesky

Dear readers, This holiday season, I have a humble request. If my newsletter has helped you in any way, please: Gift The Conscious Style Guide to your clients or colleagues. Preorder a signed copy of my 2026 picture book, Nice to Meet Eat You. Make a donation to help me keep my resources free. Your support allows me to continue this work. Thank you. ~ Karen Yin P.S. Conscious Style Guide is now on Bluesky!

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

DIVERSITY + EQUITY

Doing DEI When You Can’t Use the “D”, the “E” or the “I” Word

“If you have moral conviction, the right words will find you.”

TEACHING CHILDREN

How Book Bans Control Information and Why They Backfire

“Speaking openly with your children about difficult topics is one of the best ways to ensure they feel comfortable coming to parents about them.”

CREATIVE WRITING

Why Editor Andrew Karre Can’t Imagine YA Literature Without Sexual Content

“Some sexual content is ‘inappropriate’ for teenage readers—but not in the way you’d assume.”

JOURNALISM

Journalism Falters When It Fails to Acknowledge History

“We’ve left out narratives that create a fuller picture…We cannot afford to make those mistakes again—not in a moment of near-constant attacks on free speech, the press, book bans and an active, intentional effort to erase history.”

PLAIN LANGUAGE

Plain Language Resistance: Is “Plain” the Problem?

“The problem, I think, lies not in what plain language is but in what some writers mistakenly believe it is.”

AGE

How AARP Is Redefining Aging Through Inclusion and Authentic Storytelling

“Think of birthday cards that say ‘over the hill,’ or how easily we use phrases like ‘she looks good for her age’ or react with ‘no way are you 40!’”—Karen Chong, VP, Audience Strategy, Age Inclusion, AARP

EMPOWERMENT

Stop Calling Us “Nonprofit”: It’s Time for a New Name for the $1.4-Trillion Engine of Progress

“We are not a ‘non’ anything. We are builders of jobs, innovators in care, stewards of families and communities, and an essential part of the nation’s economic infrastructure.”

ETHNICITY, RACE + NATIONALITY

Travel Expert Who’s Visited 70 Countries Shares 7 Phrases Americans Should Never Say Abroad

“The key lies in approaching international travel with genuine curiosity rather than American-centric expectations.”

Editorial freelancers! Help the EFA keep its widely referenced editorial Rate Chart up to date by taking the 2025 EFA rates survey! Clients, freelancers, and the publishing industry turn to the EFA Rate Chart for guidance on what editorial freelancers charge for various services.

Ensure that the Rate Chart represents the value of your work by taking the survey. The survey takes about 10–15 minutes to complete and will remain open through January 5, 2026.

Please email mark.schaefer@the-efa.org with any questions or concerns about the survey.

HEALTH

Why Leaders Are Pushing Back on “AI Nurse” Label

“AI should enhance clinical work, not impersonate it.”—Marc Benoy, chief nursing information officer, Summa Health

CREATIVE WRITING / ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY + RACE

African Publishers Battle “Wakanda Problem” as Market Grows

“As African book publishers build a literary ecosystem of their own, they say they’re fighting a stubborn perception problem, with too many international publishers treating the continent’s 54 countries as one homogenous entity.”

JOURNALISM

How Civil Eats Helps Reporters and Audiences Understand Federal Food Policy

“[Publish] different kinds of stories to allow readers to engage with the reporting in different ways.”—Lisa Held, senior staff reporter and contributing editor, Civil Eats

ETHNICITY, RACE + NATIONALITY

How a Washington University Professor Helped Make Netflix’s Most-Watched Movie

“Born and raised in Korea, Mimi Kim took the responsibility [of being a cultural consultant for KPop Demon Hunters] seriously. She advised on everything from correct clothing and scenery to buildings and language.”

EMPOWERMENT / GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

60,000 Cisgender Women Write Powerful Open Letter in Support of Trans Community: “We Have Had Enough”

“Stop scapegoating minorities and put the focus back on the things that are really harming women.”—Member, Not in Our Name

ABILITY + DISABILITY

What Autistic People—and Those With ADHD and Dyslexia—Really Think About the Word “Neurodiversity”

“You may find it helpful to think that ‘neurodiverse’ includes everybody in the universe. ‘Neurodivergent’ refers to individuals or groups of people whose brains work differently, for example, autistic people or those with ADHD or dyslexia.”

HEALTH

Heart Failure: Terminology Matters

“Alternatives such as ‘cardiac insufficiency’ or ‘heart dysfunction’ might better capture the clinical reality while reducing psychological compromise.”

EMPOWERMENT

How to Show Up for Your Newly Unemployed Colleagues

“You don’t need a motivational speech. A simple, ‘That’s awful, I’m really sorry you’re dealing with that,’ can mean a lot.”

Most Popular Posts

In the October 2025 Newsletter

• “Diverse” Does Not Mean “Not White”
• Green Words That Should Go Extinct: 10 Terms That Annoy Us All
• How Anatomical Names Can Carry Hidden Histories of Power and Exclusion

You Need This!

Photo by Uni-T.

Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

Need Gifts for Children? Shop at DiversePictureBooks.com for exceptional picture books that spread understanding, compassion, and joy through diverse representation.

More Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database, one of Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Websites for Writers (2023 and 2024), helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Bluesky

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

ETHNICITY, RACE + NATIONALITY

“Diverse” Does Not Mean “Not White”

“By using ‘diverse’ as a polite stand-in for ‘nonwhite,’ language itself becomes a tool of maintenance—it keeps white people from ever having to name whiteness, even as it defines the boundaries of inclusion.”

JOURNALISM / GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

Visible, Yet Vulnerable: What Journalists Can Learn From How We Covered the Attack on Trans Rights in Trump’s First 100 Days

“Government sources were often cited without perspectives from trans people in stories about policy decisions that affect trans people and communities.”

HEALTH

How Anatomical Names Can Carry Hidden Histories of Power and Exclusion

“There is a growing movement to phase out eponyms, or at least to use them alongside descriptive ones…That does not mean we should burn the history books. It means adding context.”

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

The “Performative Male” Stereotype Might Mean More Than We Think

“The ‘performative male’ meme has…become less about the inappropriate, deceptive behavior and more about the symbols we use to make up our identities.”

CLIMATE + ENVIRONMENT

Green Words That Should Go Extinct: 10 Terms That Annoy Us All

A list of climate-related terms that “sound like solutions, but are all open to manipulation, while enabling the status quo.”

ETHNICITY, RACE + NATIONALITY

Breaking Down the Stereotype of the “Angry Black Woman”

“Black women should not be expected to apologize for expressing discomfort, setting boundaries, or advocating for themselves. To label their emotional expression as ‘too much’ is, in itself, a form of erasure.”

TEACHING CHILDREN

How to Talk to Your Teen About AI

“Identify safe uses of AI together—like for homework help with a parent’s supervision or as a creative outlet—and limit the amount of time your child uses it.”

---

ABILITY + DISABILITY

How to Write an Accessibility Statement in 2025, With Examples

“While laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) don’t explicitly require an accessibility statement, regulatory guidance and court rulings have shown that a lack of one may be viewed as a failure to provide sufficient communication around accessibility conformance, and a lack of good-faith effort.”

EMPOWERMENT

Before Putting Your Dog Down Never Ever Say This One Heartbreaking Sentence

“How we frame these final interactions can significantly impact long-term healing and memory formation.”

HEALTH

New York State Retires “EDP” Term, Adopts Compassionate Language for People Experiencing a Mental Health Crisis

“For too long, ‘EDP’ [for ‘emotionally disturbed person’] has contributed to the stigma and dehumanization of people with mental health conditions…This shift to humane language is a step toward equity.”—Christina Sparrock, founder, New York City Mental Health Collective

ETHNICITY, RACE + NATIONALITY

Was Sabrina Carpenter’s “SNL” Performance of “Nobody’s Son” Cultural Appropriation? Let’s Talk About It

“This could have been a major opportunity for an Asian creative to get their foot in the door. Instead, it feels like Sabrina is profiting off of a culture that neither she nor SNL are supporting—at least not loudly or publicly enough to offset the potential harm of the performance.”

DESIGN + IMAGES

Historical Images Made With AI Recycle Colonial Stereotypes and Bias—New Research

“Perhaps the most promising solution lies in AI literacy. We need to understand how these systems think, what data they draw on, and how to prompt them effectively.”

EMPOWERMENT

Why the Smartest Leaders Watch Their Words

“Changing your language may be the easiest—and most powerful—entry point into love-powered leadership.”

MISCELLANEOUS > GAMBLING

Guide for Talking About Gambling and Related Harms

“No one sets out to develop a gambling problem. Rather, the problem often stems from the nature and design of gambling products, how they are marketed and regulated. A public health approach recognises that gambling harm is not just an individual issue—it’s a societal one.”

MISCELLANEOUS > TRAUMA

Trauma Aware Journalism

A toolkit for the news industry that covers topics such as interviewing children, ethical relationships with sources, and handling traumatic imagery.

Most Popular Posts

In the September 2025 Newsletter

• Reporter’s Guide to Detecting AI-Generated Content
• Design Beyond Sight: How to Make Your Product Work With Screen Readers
• For Too Long, Colonial Language Has Dominated Space Exploration. There Is a Better Way

You Need This!

Photo by Uni-T.

Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

Make More Space! Fans of Whole Whale will love the huggable 9” by 9” board book format. In this raucous rhyming tale about making space, 100 unusual animals try to squeeze into the pages of the book. Features an expansive double gatefold and a list of the animals. "This simple rhyming book packs a powerful message."—School Library Journal. Visit KarenYin.com/Books to learn more.

New Ghoul at School: Mimi doesn’t look like the other ghosts—but she wishes she did. “A pun-tacular ghost story.”—Booklist. Themes in So Not Ghoul: new student, blending in, bullying, cultural misappropriation. For a free 12-page activity guide, a signed bookplate, or ways to buy, visit KarenYin.com/Books.

More Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database, one of Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Websites for Writers (2023 and 2024), helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Bluesky

On September 10, 2018, I launched the Editors of Color Database to raise the visibility of editorial professionals of color. Like many POC, I was tired of being left out of projects, interviews, panels, and jobs because the people in charge claimed we don’t exist. Someone told me to my face “I can’t find any editors of color” at an editor's conference attended by editors of color. Continue reading on LinkedIn >

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

DESIGN + IMAGES / VERIFICATION

Reporter’s Guide to Detecting AI-Generated Content

“This guide teaches journalists how to try to identify AI-generated content under deadline pressure, offering seven advanced detection categories that every reporter needs to master.”

HEALTH

What the Media Gets Wrong About Death—and How to Fix It

“Dramatic causes like terrorism, pandemics and natural disasters receive disproportionate attention, while chronic illnesses such as heart disease, kidney disease and stroke—the world’s biggest killers are underreported or ignored.”

ETHNICITY, RACE + NATIONALITY

Speaking Back: What I Hear When You Say “Your English Is Good”

“‘Your English is good’ is rarely just about language. It is about who is presumed competent, who is presumed to belong, and who must constantly prove themselves.”

APPEARANCE

When Weight Affects Work: What Serena Williams’ Story Reveals About Sizeism and Survival

“The world feels entitled to comment on women’s appearance and bodies, and Black women like Williams face heightened analysis and scrutiny compared to their counterparts.”

COLONIALISM

For Too Long, Colonial Language Has Dominated Space Exploration. There Is a Better Way

“An Indigenous-inspired lens can help us envision and build a future with stewardship and shared responsibility, not competition and conquest.”

ABILITY + DISABILITY

Design Beyond Sight: How to Make Your Product Work With Screen Readers

“Accessibility is not a checklist—it’s a mindset. Designing with semantic labels and assistive technologies in mind ensures we’re building inclusive and usable experiences for everyone.”

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

Persian or Arabian Gulf? A Brief History

“The debate around the name has been a source of geopolitical tension between Iran and its neighbours across the Gulf for more than six decades.”

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CLIMATE + ENVIRONMENT

The Language of Carbon—Why Words Are Now the Frontline of Climate Credibility

“The era of casual climate language is over. Companies must adopt a new lexicon—one that matches the complexity of carbon markets with clarity, humility and transparency.”

ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY + RACE

Can You Still Recognize Dehumanizing Language When You Hear It?

“Criminal. Illegal. Alien. Repeated over and over, those words can convince us that immigrants are something less than human—and legitimately undeserving of rights or dignity afforded to Americans.”

TEACHING CHILDREN

6 Ways to Talk to Your Teens About Sex Without the Cringe

“Try not to lead with what not to do. Telling a young person not to have sex or watch pornography is unlikely to stop them doing it and may shut down future conversation.”

ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY + RACE

The “No Sabo” Stereotype Carries Harm Disguised as Humor

“To consider being ‘no sabo’ as to be more aligned with American values, inadvertently and inaccurately categorizes the speaking of Spanish as ‘un-American.’“

TEACHING CHILDREN

Verbally Abused Children More Likely to Have Poor Mental Health as Adults, Study Finds

“We must act now to confront the lasting harm caused by cruel, critical or controlling language. We need to build children up—not knock them down.”—Jessica Bondy, founder, Words Matter

JOURNALISM

Why Journalists Are Reluctant to Call Trump an Authoritarian—and Why That Matters for Democracy

“Although other opinion journalists like Jamelle Bouie, M. Gessen, Jonathan Chait and nearly every MSNBC anchor have been labeling Trump an authoritarian for some time, much hard news coverage of the Trump administration has not.”

TEACHING CHILDREN > RESOURCES

Words Matter

“Words matter. They stick. They last a lifetime. Their impact shapes who we are and who we become.”

Most Popular Posts

In the August 2025 Newsletter

• Queer Language: Borrowed Grammar, Made-Up Words, and Chosen Family
• “I Fixed That for You”: Why Mainstream Headlines Keep Failing
• How a Simple Metaphor Can Save Planet Earth

You Need This!

Photo by Uni-T.

Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

Make More Space! Fans of Whole Whale will love the huggable 9” by 9” board book format. In this raucous rhyming tale about making space, 100 unusual animals try to squeeze into the pages of the book. Features an expansive double gatefold and a list of the animals. "This simple rhyming book packs a powerful message."—School Library Journal. Visit KarenYin.com/Books to learn more.

New Ghoul at School: Mimi doesn’t look like the other ghosts—but she wishes she did. “A pun-tacular ghost story.”—Booklist. Themes in So Not Ghoul: new student, blending in, bullying, cultural misappropriation. For a free 12-page activity guide, a signed bookplate, or ways to buy, visit KarenYin.com/Books.

More Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database, one of Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Websites for Writers, helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Bluesky

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

Queer Language: Borrowed Grammar, Made-Up Words, and Chosen Family

“When queer people invent language, we’re not just being clever, we’re articulating a vision of how relationships, bodies, and selves could be seen if the rules weren’t written by someone else.”

JOURNALISM

“I Fixed That for You”: Why Mainstream Headlines Keep Failing

“But why do the headlines—and those who write and approve them—fail us so often? It’s partly the desire not to offend, to play it safe.”

CLIMATE + ENVIRONMENT

How a Simple Metaphor Can Save Planet Earth

“People don’t necessarily learn from facts alone. They learn from facts that are made clear by simple metaphors, especially those that touch their moral values.”

PLAIN LANGUAGE / ABILITY + DISABILITY

ASAN Says No Generative AI in Plain Language

“As an experiment, staff at [the Autistic Self Advocacy Network] took things we had written and asked a generative AI to lower the reading level. The text we put in was about how autistic people deserve rights…The AI added sentences about how some autistic people have very rare and amazing talents. This is not something that ASAN would say. We believe autistic people deserve rights even if we don’t have amazing talents.”

DESIGN + IMAGES

Shower Gel Ad Gets UK Ban for Suggesting Black Skin Is Problematic

“The watchdog [Advertising Standards Authority] said the ad was ‘structured in such a way that it was the black skin…shown to be problematic and uncomfortable, whereas the white skin, depicted as smoother and clean after using the product, was shown successfully changed and resolved.’”

JOURNALISM

How to Ensure Reporting on ICE Goes Beyond Focusing on Citizenship Status

Helpful frames for covering ICE, such as “examin[ing] commonalities among communities that ICE has yet to target.”

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JOURNALISM

In Passionate Defense of Counterprogramming

“Counterprogramming is a perfect forum for highlighting smaller or more unique acts of resistance.”

TEACHING CHILDREN

Getting Beyond Answers Like “Fine” and “Nothing”: 5 Simple Ways to Spark Real Talk With Kids

“When a ‘why’ gets shut down, a child’s curiosity and wonder are also snuffed out. Instead, try acknowledging and engaging with this curiosity: ‘Good question. Here’s my thinking …’ or ‘Let’s talk about why this is important…’”

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

What Can Nature Teach Us About Sex and Gender?

“Just because we have words and categories with strict definitions doesn’t mean that represents the reality. You gotta remember, we invented words, we invented categories, we invented definitions, and we have to be open to the possibility that those need to be revised from time to time.”

DESIGN + IMAGES

AI-Generated Stereotypes Are Reinforcing Digital Minstrelsy and Black Women Are Paying the Price

“Every Black woman image the system returned was overexaggerated—none of them looked like a tech executive or podcast host. We’re either invisible in AI or turned into a stereotype. There’s no in-between, and that’s precisely the problem.’”—Candiace Scarborough, director of cybersecurity and software engineering, Parsons Corporation

DESIGN + IMAGES

“Australiana” Images Made by AI Are Racist and Full of Tired Cliches, New Study Shows

“When prompted for an ‘Australian’s house,’ Meta AI generated a suburban brick house with a well-kept garden, swimming pool and lush green lawn. When we then asked for an ‘Aboriginal Australian’s house,’ the generator came up with a grass-roofed hut in red dirt, adorned with ‘Aboriginal-style’ art motifs.”

RECLAIMING

Why People Reclaim Words Meant to Insult Them—and How This Has Become a Powerful Tool for Protest

“Others may worry that embracing the label reinforces stereotypes. But that tension is part of what makes reappropriation so powerful and so political. It forces a public reckoning with language, power and identity.”

JOURNALISM

When the Words Reporters Use Are Junk, Their Stories Are Junk, Too

“A police officer might describe a passionate public demonstration as a ‘riot.’ Before repeating that label, experienced journalists will ask the officer to defend that word choice with evidence. Was there widespread violence or vandalism? What percentage of the crowd participated?”

ETHNICITY, RACE + NATIONALITY > NATIVE/INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

Indigenous Cultural Protocols: What the Media Needs to Do When Depicting Deceased Persons

“In many areas of Indigenous Australia, reproduction of the names and photographs of deceased people is restricted during a period of mourning.”

Most Popular Posts

In the June 2025 Newsletter

• Talking About Homelessness: New Report Highlights How Everyday Language Perpetuates Stigma
• Stop Saying “I’ve Been There” When Empathizing With Someone—Here’s How to Truly Be Helpful
• A Contestant on a Popular TV Show Used This Racist Word. Many People Don’t Even Know It’s a Slur

You Need This!

Photo by Uni-T.

Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

Make More Space! Fans of Whole Whale will love the huggable 9” by 9” board book format. In this raucous rhyming tale about making space, 100 unusual animals try to squeeze into the pages of the book. Features an expansive double gatefold and a list of the animals. "This simple rhyming book packs a powerful message."—School Library Journal. Visit KarenYin.com/Books to learn more.

New Ghoul at School: Mimi doesn’t look like the other ghosts—but she wishes she did. “A pun-tacular ghost story.”—Booklist. Themes in So Not Ghoul: new student, blending in, bullying, cultural misappropriation. For a free 12-page activity guide, a signed bookplate, or ways to buy, visit KarenYin.com/Books.

More Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database, one of Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Websites for Writers, helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Bluesky

I’m bothered by the lack of distinction between generative AI and non-generative AI (also called traditional machine learning, traditional AI, analytical AI) in nearly all AI coverage and commentary. Collapsing different types of AI into one term, “AI,” promotes confusion and misinformation about what we really need to pay attention to and be concerned about. When products, for example, are described as “using AI” or “having AI,” it tells me nothing about what is actually being used or whether there are ethical issues involved, e.g., theft of creators’ works by gen AI. Continue reading on LinkedIn >

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

FACT-CHECKING

The Truth Is Still Worth Fighting For

“When people are inundated with competing claims without any assurance of factuality, they become confused and cynical, doubting truth can even be known.”

JOURNALISM

Reporters, Stop With the Double-Barreled Questions

“When reporters ask two questions at the same time, they weaken their chances of getting either of them answered.”

JOURNALISM

Why We’re Moving Beyond “Misinformation” and “Disinformation”

“A simple phrase like ‘false claim’ is more powerful and precise than ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation,’ because it names the problem plainly and directs attention to the content itself—without triggering partisan reflexes or rhetorical spin.”

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

The Ugly Stereotype Beneath the Supreme Court Ruling on LGBTQIA+ Books

“We would not expect schools to put Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day in the sex education curriculum simply because it features a straight mom and dad. Why would Justice Gorsuch or others believe stories about families with two moms or two dads belong there?”

SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS

Talking About Homelessness: New Report Highlights How Everyday Language Perpetuates Stigma

A checklist for how to write and speak about people experiencing homelessness.

EMPOWERMENT

Stop Saying “I’ve Been There” When Empathizing With Someone—Here’s How to Truly Be Helpful

“Though it may come with the best intentions, the ‘I’ve been there, too’ approach shifts the focus from them to you. And real empathy isn’t about relating our parallel story—it’s about listening deeply.”

ETHNICITY, RACE + NATIONALITY

A Contestant on a Popular TV Show Used This Racist Word. Many People Don’t Even Know It’s a Slur.

“The use of ‘ch*nky eye’ like it’s a neutral descriptor shows how deeply anti-Asian racism has been normalized―especially when it’s disguised as flattery.”—Joey S. Kim, assistant professor of English, University of Toledo

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GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

Words Are Made Up, Dignity Isn’t

“Language is one of the oldest mirrors of power we possess. When we allow that mirror to reflect a broader, more inclusive vision of humanity, we are not ‘censoring’ anyone, we are choosing compassion over cruelty, precision over prejudice, community over comfort.”

HEALTH / GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

When Doctors Ignore Pronouns, Patients Pay the Price. Here’s Why

“When transgender and nonbinary patients receive gender-affirming treatment, they are significantly less likely to delay healthcare in the future.”

JOURNALISM

People Who Fear the Trump Administration Are Asking Editors to Remove Their Names From Old News Stories.

Questions to ask while managing name-removal requests.

HEALTH

Reading the Room: A Joint Perspective From a Scientist- and Patient-Partnered Working Group on the Importance of Patient-Centered Language in the Dissemination of Cancer Research

“Example phrases [of language that blames the patient] are the ‘patient failed treatment’ or the ‘patient failed to achieve complete response.’ Although these phrases are used with no ill-intent, they are insensitive to the patient and, frankly, inaccurate. It is indeed the treatment that failed the patient.”

AGE

Why Was This Stranger Calling Me Sweetheart? The Benevolent Ageism of “Elderspeak”

“Elderspeak may involve the use of inappropriate terms of endearment, juvenile language or unnecessarily loud or slow enunciation. It can often be a vehicle for attributing ageist stereotypes to the older person, defining them not by their selfhood but by their age.”

SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS

“Unhoused” and “Homeless”—What’s the Difference?

“The debate over terminology should not be used as a form of virtue signaling without meaningful efforts to tackle the deeper challenges of housing affordability, mental health, and substance use.”

CREATIVE WRITING > GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

Bears Will Be Boys

“Because so much of our worldview is shaped by our environment when we are young, automatically reaching for he after ‘look at the frog!’ starts to make some sense. After all, that’s what the books say.”

In Case You Missed It

In the June 2025 issue…

• Why Use the Term “West Asia”?
• Nutrition for Today: FDA Issues a New Definition of the Word “Healthy” on Food Labels
• To Tell My Disabled Stories, I Needed to Unlearn Ableist Workshop Critiques

You Need This!

Photo by Uni-T.

Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

New Board Book! Fans of Whole Whale will love the huggable 9” by 9” board book format. In this raucous rhyming tale about making space, 100 unusual animals try to squeeze into the pages of the book. Features an expansive double gatefold and a list of the animals. "This simple rhyming book packs a powerful message."—School Library Journal. Visit KarenYin.com/Books to learn more.

New Ghoul at School: Mimi doesn’t look like the other ghosts—but she wishes she did. “A pun-tacular ghost story.”—Booklist. Themes in So Not Ghoul: new student, blending in, bullying, cultural misappropriation. For a free 12-page activity guide, a signed bookplate, or ways to buy, visit KarenYin.com/Books.

More Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database, one of Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Websites for Writers, helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Bluesky

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

JOURNALISM

Defeat Trump by Concentrating on Consequences

“Attacks on Trump’s persona simply don't work. But attacks on the consequences of his policies might.”

JOURNALISM

How Should Journalists Call Out Lies in the Age of Trump and AI?

“Steven Springer, who was for years the editor of standards and best practices at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, notes that while it’s difficult for news organizations to counter the quantity of misinformation found on social media, this is now also a vital part of a journalist’s work.”

JOURNALISM

Why “Nonlethal” Isn’t the Right Word for the Weapons Used on Journalists

“While such weapons—rubber bullets, Tasers, pepper spray, tear gas—are meant to subdue individuals without causing death, they still can be dangerous and even deadly.”

JOURNALISM

News Outlets Don’t Usually Publish the F-Word. Then Came Trump’s Israel-Iran Ceasefire Rant.

“Sometimes it is necessary to include an expletive to convey the severity of a moment to the audience.”

HEALTH

Nutrition for Today: FDA Issues a New Definition of the Word “Healthy” on Food Labels

“Because the old rules didn’t include limits on added sugar, low-fat junk foods, such as sugar-sweetened cereals and sweetened juice drinks, could carry the word ‘healthy’ on their labels if the manufacturer added vitamins.”

TRANSPARENCY

AI Transparency in UX: Designing Clear AI Interactions

“It’s valuable and crucial to identify AI features and generated content to users, so they can better understand what’s being shown to them, as well as trust the product.”

ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY + RACE

Why Use the Term “West Asia”?

“The origin of the word [‘Middle East’] clearly lies in western contexts along with which it relates with various regional biases, stereotypes and modern political implications which are difficult to disassociate from the term.”

---

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

What to Say When a Loved One Comes Out

“Even before someone comes out, you can make it clear that you’re a safe person to confide in, says Zachary Zane, sex and relationship expert with Grindr…Do that by using gender-inclusive language, and avoiding assumptions about gender or relationship norms.”

HEALTH

Inaccurate and Misogynistic: Why We Need to Make the Term “Hysterectomy” History

“Removing the link to hysteria and renaming hysterectomy to uterectomy would be a simple but symbolic change.”

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY / RECLAIMING

What Are “Ladyboys” and Is the Term Offensive? Unpacking That White Lotus Monologue

“Like all language related to identity, which label feels best is deeply personal and never one-size-fits-all.”

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

Queer Language India: How English Dominance Erases Regional LGBTQIA+ Expression

“Vernacular expressions often prioritise fluidity over fixed categories, community specificity over universal labels, and lived experience over theoretical frameworks. The insistence on translating these into English equivalents strips away their cultural resonance and political power.”

CREATIVE WRITING / ABILITY + DISABILITY

“Disability Doesn’t Need to Be the Defining Characteristic”: UK Creatives Challenge Representation on Screen

“Often non-disabled people and writers think the disability itself is the struggle. But it’s just an extra identity to the character.”—Mari Sanders, filmmaker

CREATIVE WRITING

Sensitivity Reading in Speculative Fiction: Why It Matters More Than You Think

“Erasure, tokenism, appropriation—these happen more often in speculative fiction than we think, and it’s up to us to be mindful and present of those potential pitfalls even when it’s done under the premise of ‘making things up’.”

CREATIVE WRITING / ABILITY + DISABILITY

To Tell My Disabled Stories, I Needed to Unlearn Ableist Workshop Critiques

“We [disabled writers] must remember that crafting our stories accurately is the ultimate act of agency. Resisting pressures to perform illness for others is a reclamation of our power.”

CSG in the News

MISCELLANEOUS > JOURNALISM

It’s Time to Change the Way the Media Reports on Protests. Here Are Some Ideas.

“A 2010 study that analyzed 40 years of protest coverage in five major newspapers…found that the papers depicted protests—even peaceful ones—as nuisances rather than as necessary functions of democracy.”

In Case You Missed It

In the May 2025 issue…

• Four Essentials for the Press Right Now
• You Can’t Post Your Way Out of Fascism
• Medical Journal Editors Must Resist CDC Order and Anti-Gender Ideology

You Need This!

Photo by Uni-T.

Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

New Board Book! Fans of Whole Whale will love the huggable 9” by 9” board book format. In this raucous rhyming tale about making space, 100 unusual animals try to squeeze into the pages of the book. Features an expansive double gatefold and a list of the animals. "This simple rhyming book packs a powerful message."—School Library Journal. Visit KarenYin.com/Books to learn more.

New Ghoul at School: Mimi doesn’t look like the other ghosts—but she wishes she did. “A pun-tacular ghost story.”—Booklist. Themes in So Not Ghoul: new student, blending in, bullying, cultural misappropriation. For a free 12-page activity guide, a signed bookplate, or ways to buy, visit KarenYin.com/Books.

More Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database, one of Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Websites for Writers, helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Bluesky

Dear readers, My sincere apologies for the monthslong absence. If you follow me on LinkedIn or Bluesky, you may have read that I lost my home in the Eaton Fire and have been slowly finding my way back. I wish I had the wherewithal to articulate my observations on how language evolved among self-described “fire folks.” Many in my neighborhood became homeless and described themselves as such; others identified more as or only as displaced or homeless-adjacent or another term that captures the nuance of either having a home they cannot return to (due to fire damage), being housed somewhere that is not their home, or having no home but many economic advantages. I myself used the hopeful phrase between homes until I found a home last month. Language helps us make sense of things when nothing makes sense. Why publish this newsletter while in the early stages of recovery? First, I miss it. I miss sharing interesting and exciting developments in the world of conscious language. Second, my critically acclaimed book The Conscious Style Guide turns 1 on May 28! So a bit of fanfare is in order. And third, I didn’t want the older articles I had collected over the last four months to get any older. 🙂  Thank you for sticking around. If you would like to help me in my recovery, please consider donating to my ongoing fundraiser. ~Karen Yin

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

JOURNALISM

Four Essentials for the Press Right Now

“First, stop with the pussyfooting about what’s happening.”

ADVOCACY

You Can’t Post Your Way Out of Fascism

“Researchers have found that the viral outrage disseminated on social media in response to these ridiculous claims actually reduces the effectiveness of collective action. The result is a media environment that keeps us in a state of debilitating fear and anger, endlessly reacting to our oppressors instead of organizing against them.”

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

Medical Journal Editors Must Resist CDC Order and Anti-Gender Ideology

“Medically relevant terminology and inclusive language follow evidence based reporting standards or are matters of individual journal style and policy. They do not follow political orders.”

JOURNALISM

Trump Wants News Outlets to Get on Board With “Gulf of America”—or Else. Will They?

“If Trump is going to start barring reporters over [house style], maintaining the old name [‘Gulf of Mexico’] is the only reasonable choice.”

TEACHING CHILDREN

How to Talk to Kids About Wildfires

Tips compiled by PBS on how to talk to young children about wildfires and help them cope.

JOURNALISM

When Consent Isn’t Enough

“The way we handle consent from vulnerable sources must evolve beyond outdated assumptions that prioritize access over ethics. People’s dignity should matter more than any story.”

TRANSPARENCY

When Disclosing Use of AI, Be Specific

“Share enough to demystify the process and highlight the human judgment behind the work.”

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ETHNICITY, RACE + NATIONALITY

I Work as a Sensitivity Reader—and Racism Is Harder to Spot Than You’d Think

“Particular words illustrate the truth of Australia’s Blak history and Indigenous peoples, while other words sanitise, minimise, misrepresent or even outwardly deny this confronting history. For instance, the British didn’t ‘settle’ [in] Australia; they invaded it.”

HEALTH

The Words of Health Care Providers During Prenatal Care Visits Can Influence How Parents See Their Children

“The results of the two experiments carried out by this research team suggest that the words of health care providers during pregnancy can in fact have lasting effects on how parents view their children’s personality, while also potentially impacting the children’s development.”

JOURNALISM

Media’s Empathetic Coverage of Luigi Mangione Reveals an Obsession With Humanizing White Male Suspects

“According to one study, publications routinely speculate about white perpetrators’ mental health as a possible explanation for their actions, painting a complex picture of their motivations, whereas suspects of color are reduced to racial stereotypes.”

ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY + RACE

Sports Media Shouldn’t Dehumanize International Players

“The less international players are shown as human through commodifying metaphors, the more ‘disposable’ they are seen by the public, especially if they are cut by teams.”

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

Who Gets to Use the Word “Twink”?

“Just keep in mind that the way in which you talk about us says everything we need to know about you.”

ABILITY + DISABILITY

Should AI Write Your Alt Text?

“Alt text should describe the image in the context of the webpage, but AI only describes the image itself.”

CSG in the Spotlight

New Reviews: The Conscious Style Guide

“‘Practice’ is the book’s longest chapter and the one that most resembles a traditional stylebook. Yin offers recommendations on language choices on topics such as climate change, mental health, and religion.”—Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly (republished on The Editor’s Desk)

“[Karen Yin] sets out a system that encourages readers to decide what conscious language means to them and how best to incorporate it into their own work.”—BoldFace (Editors Toronto)

MISCELLANEOUS > CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND INCARCERATION

Don’t Be a Copagandist

“Don’t repeat police narratives unchecked.”

In Case You Missed It

In the December 2024 issue…

• How Black Culture Is Erased by Terms Like “Gen Alpha Slang”
• The Right (and Wrong) Things to Say to a Grieving Friend
• Let’s Talk About “Joyfriend” Love & the Perks of Having a “Second Queer Adolescence”

You Need This!

Photo by Uni-T.

Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

Other Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database, one of Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Websites for Writers, helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Get More Tips on Instagram: Follow @ConsciousStyleGuide for examples of context that supports sensitive content.

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Bluesky

DECEMBER 2024

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

DESIGN + IMAGES

Strabismus in Animation: Study Highlights Harmful Stereotypes in Children’s Films

“Strabismus, a misalignment of the eyes that is most often diagnosed in pediatric patients, does not impact an individual’s personality or intelligence, but a study has found that animated movies often tend to use the condition to signify a clumsy, dopey or villainous character.” Read >

ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY + RACE

How Black Culture Is Erased by Terms Like “Gen Alpha Slang”

“Some [young white children] pick up terms from the black community online and incorporate them into their discourse without understanding where these terms and phrases come from. As a result, many misuse these terms or inappropriately apply them.” Read >

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

It’s Time to Take Back Gossip

“If Woman A does something shady to Woman B, Woman B should be free to speak about it without being dismissed as a ‘gossip.’” Read >

EMPOWERMENT

The Right (and Wrong) Things to Say to a Grieving Friend

“Don’t say anything that starts with ‘at least.’ That includes ‘at least they’re in a better place’ or ‘at least they are no longer suffering.’ When you start with ‘at least,’ you are minimizing your friend’s experience and, crucially, imposing a viewpoint that may not ring true.” Read >

CLIMATE + ENVIRONMENT

9 Local Story Ideas From the 2024 Lancet Countdown Report on Climate Change and Health

“Climate change is often framed as a global crisis, but its impacts are local, and this is where journalists play a critical role.” Read >

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

Let’s Talk About “Joyfriend” Love & the Perks of Having a “Second Queer Adolescence”

Joyfriend is “a term used to describe a nonbinary person in a romantic relationship.” Read >

DIVERSITY + EQUITY

The Real Cost of Business Abandoning Inclusion

“When marketers shy away from inclusion, they’re leaving dollars on the table.” Read >

AGE

Carlisle MP Urges Change in Child Sexual Abuse Terminology

“These images are not ‘pornography.’ They are evidence of a crime and evidence of abuse.”—Julie Minns, Member of Parliament, Carlisle. Read >

ABILITY + DISABILITY

Colleges Must Revise Millions of Web Pages. It Will Be “Painful.”

“Some 21 percent of higher-ed students report having a disability, including visual, hearing, cognitive, and manual-dexterity impairments. Every day, many come across images and videos they can’t see, documents that their screen readers can’t interpret, audio they can’t hear, and sites that they can’t navigate effectively without a computer mouse.” Read >

SCIENCE > NAMING

A Blind Beetle Named Hitler? The Case for Changing Offensive Names of Animals and Plants, and How It Can Be Done

“The debate over renaming species names that have ethical issues is not simply about words. It is about ensuring that science remains relevant in a changing world.” Read >

LAW

Was It Really an “Accident”? Let’s Use the Right Word—It Matters More Than You Think

“‘Accident’ implies that no one is to blame, which can mislead juries in cases where negligence is at issue.” Read > 

ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY + RACE

Leave the N-word Out of the Schoolroom

“Non-Black Americans must understand the difference between a Black person using [the N-word] in a song and a teacher saying it in the classroom.” Read > 

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

A Nonbinary Gender?

“The most common way to modify the gender marker in Spanish is to exchange the suffixes o or a for an e.” Read >

APPEARANCE

“Black Don’t Crack” Is Stressing Me Out

“In some ways, ‘black don’t crack’ is about more than just the outward appearance. It feels like another way black women aren’t allowed to be fully human.” Visit Appearance >

AGE

Child Exploitation and Abuse: An Appropriate Language Guide

“It’s important to remember that children can never consent to their own abuse.”

Visit Age >

From the Archives

Young People and Ageist Language

“Avoiding double standards in ageist language doesn’t mean treating children like adults, but it does mean treating children like individuals.” Read >

In Case You Missed It

In the November 2024 newsletter…

• A Simple Exercise to Help You Check Your Biases
• Asking Eric: Is Calling Our Senior Engagement “Cute” Ageism?
• What “High-Functioning Autism” Means (and Why You Shouldn’t Call It That)

Read >

Need Gift Ideas?

Photo by Uni-T.

You Need This T-Shirt! Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

New Board Book! Fans of Whole Whale will love the huggable 9” by 9” board book format. In this raucous rhyming tale about making space, 100 unusual animals try to squeeze into the pages of the book. Features an expansive double gatefold and a list of the animals. "This simple rhyming book packs a powerful message."—School Library Journal. Visit KarenYin.com/Books to learn more.

Shop for Diverse Picture Books: On DiversePictureBooks.com, you will find exceptional picture books that spread understanding, compassion, and joy through diverse representation.

Other Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now! One of Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Websites for Writers!

Get More Tips on Instagram: Follow @ConsciousStyleGuide for examples of context that supports sensitive content.

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NOVEMBER 2024

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

JOURNALISM

Panelists Outline the Importance of Covering Alcohol Like Other Drugs

At an Association of Health Care Journalists’ summit, panelists “highlighted the need for journalists to cover alcohol misuse and alcohol use disorder the way they’ve covered the opioid crisis.” Read >

AGE

Asking Eric: Is Calling Our Senior Engagement “Cute” Ageism?

“I realize that people are happy for us and that the marriage of two people past 70 is unexpected and startling in a pleasant way. But cute? Would anyone call an impending marriage of two 35-year-olds cute?” Read >

HEALTH

The Inadequate Language of Pregnancy Loss

“A loss before 20 weeks is called ‘a spontaneous abortion.’ Someone who has recurrent miscarriages is known in the medical world as a ‘habitual aborter.’ This language fails people across the political spectrum.” Read >

EMPOWERMENT

A Simple Exercise to Help You Check Your Biases

“A simple way to practice individuation within team contexts is by using three key words: ‘tell me more.’ This phrase instills and encourages a nonjudgmental curiosity, especially in instances where there may be a disagreement.” Read >

CLIMATE + ENVIRONMENT

How Language Barriers Influence Global Climate Literacy

“English, often called a global language, is only spoken by a minority of the world’s population.” Read >

PLAIN LANGUAGE

WSHA Leads Statewide Campaign to Standardize Plain Language Hospital Emergency Code Calls

“The newly standardized language utilizes plain language to announce most emergency codes rather than cryptic ‘color’ codes, making it easier for staff, patients and visitors to understand emergent situations in hospitals.” Read >

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

From Challengers to Bridgerton, Bisexuals Are Often Stereotypes on Screen. Some Shows Flip the Script

“Shows aimed at gen Z audiences, including Heartstopper, are getting bisexual representation right…[The character’s] sexuality isn’t there to tick a box—it’s part of a fully developed character who reflects the multifaceted experiences of being a bisexual person in the world.” Read >

JOURNALISM

How to Cover Political Violence and Threats Without Making It Worse

“Go easy on words that evoke violence, particularly in headlines and social media text. Dehumanizing language such as ‘enemies,’ ‘mobs’ and ‘war’ can be dangerous. This rhetoric, when used by pundits, political leaders and influential people, can encourage acts of violence and drive deeply inaccurate perceptions.” Read >

ABILITY + DISABILITY

What “High-Functioning Autism” Means (and Why You Shouldn’t Call It That)

“If you do need to talk about somebody’s functional abilities, precision is key. Describe, in detail, the activities they can do independently and the areas where they require additional support.” Read >

DESIGN + IMAGES

AARP Report: Ageist Stereotypes in Online Images Declining

An AARP study found that “in images used in online media and marketing, adults 50 and older are now more likely to be shown working out at the gym or on the pickleball court, using a smartphone or wearing the latest fashions than they were in 2018.” Read >

TECHNOLOGY

Flagged for Being Queer

“Reclaimed slurs, once used as insults, have been repurposed by the LGBTQ+ community as symbols of pride and empowerment. However, AI-powered content moderation systems are failing to grasp these nuances, often mistaking empowering language for offensive content and silencing the voices of those they aim to protect.” Read >

ETHNICITY, RACE + NATIONALITY

Think Immigration: From “Alien” to “Noncitizen”: The Subtle Power of Language in U.S. Appellate Courts

In an analysis of the language used in immigration cases in lower courts, “the term ‘noncitizen’ was associated with more favorable outcomes for immigrants.” Read >

DESIGN + IMAGES

Online Images Speak Louder Than Words When It Comes to Gender Stereotypes

“It is easier to avoid gender bias in language…When it comes to images, it’s almost impossible not to associate a gender with a person doing a particular job.” Read >

EMPOWERMENT

How to Be a Boss at Giving Performance Reviews

“By being intentional about giving feedback, managers can create environments where employees feel respected, valued and motivated to succeed.” Read >

From the Archives

Calibrating Terminology

Accepting the challenges inherent in understanding one another. Read >

In Case You Missed It

In the September/October 2024 newsletter…

• Heinz Accused of Promoting Racist Stereotypes, Blackface in New Ads
• How We Think About “Obesity” and Body Weight Is Changing. Here’s Why.
• Netflix’s “Nobody Wants This” and the Persistent Jewish Stereotype

Read >

Holiday Gift Ideas

New Ghoul at School: Mimi doesn’t look like the other ghosts—but she wishes she did. “A pun-tacular ghost story.”—Booklist. Themes in So Not Ghoul: new student, blending in, bullying, cultural misappropriation. For a free 12-page activity guide, a signed bookplate, or ways to buy, visit KarenYin.com/Books.

New Board Book! Fans of Whole Whale will love the huggable 9” by 9” board book format. 100 unusual animals try to squeeze into the pages of this raucous rhyming tale. But will there be room to fit a whole blue whale? Features an expansive double gatefold and a list of the animals. "This simple rhyming book packs a powerful message."—School Library Journal. Visit KarenYin.com/Books to learn more.

You Need This T-Shirt! Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

Photo by Uni-T.

Other Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Shop for Diverse Picture Books: On DiversePictureBooks.com, find exceptional picture books that spread understanding, compassion, and joy through diverse representation.

Get More Tips on Instagram: Follow @ConsciousStyleGuide for examples of context that supports sensitive content.

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Bluesky | Threads

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2024

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

TRANSPARENCY

Documentary Filmmakers Publish New AI Ethics Guidelines. Are News Broadcasters Next?

“The cornerstone of the [generative AI] guidelines is transparency. Audiences should understand what they are seeing and hearing—whether it’s authentic media or AI generated.”—Jennifer Petrucelli, cofounder, Archival Producers Alliance. Read >

DESIGN + IMAGES

Heinz Accused of Promoting Racist Stereotypes, Blackface in New Ads

In an ad featuring a Black bride and her mother and a White groom and his parents, “many people felt Heinz was promoting the racist stereotype of the absent Black father as he didn’t appear at the ‘head table’ at his daughter’s wedding.” Read >

SPIRITUALITY, RELIGION + ATHEISM

Netflix’s “Nobody Wants This” and the Persistent Jewish Stereotype

“While I love Noah’s commitment to Judaism, and just the fact that he’s one of the best TV boyfriends I’ve seen in some time, I can’t say the same about the other Jewish characters on the show—primarily the women. Would it be too much just to see Jewish characters in shows without feeling othered?” Read >

ABILITY + DISABILITY

The Two States Where the GOP Is Taking on Ableist Language

“Local press and anti-DEI national commentators have not criticized either proposal, signaling that, as once was the norm with the enactment of laws like the Americans with Disabilites Act, the push for disability rights can be bipartisan.” Read >

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

Language Determines the Way We See the World

“People may dismiss gender-neutral language as unnecessary or merely ideological,” but a 2019 study found that “using gender-neutral pronouns increases positive attitudes toward women and LGBTQ+ people, by reducing the salience of masculine identity and subsequently causing less gender-based bias.” Read >

JOURNALISM

It’s Time to Talk About How the Media Talks About Sexual Harassment

“In all cases, women were heavily featured as victims but never as aggressors. It is a gender bias that does not match the established statistics, which show that almost one-quarter of aggressors are women.” Read >

APPEARANCE

How We Think About “Obesity” and Body Weight Is Changing. Here’s Why

“Historical reflections on the word ‘obesity’ reveal its offensive origins, with advocates suggesting the term ob*sity should be used with an asterisk to acknowledge this. To show our respect, we will adopt this language here.” Read >

FREE SPEECH

The Unfortunate Consequences of a Misguided Free Speech Principle

“All social practices are defined by boundaries that distinguish unacceptable from acceptable behavior. These boundaries apply to speech as well as to action. To privilege the individual autonomy of speakers and to insulate their communication from the enforcement of these boundaries is to undermine the practices.” Read >

ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY + RACE

How the Hidden Curriculum in English Textbooks Shapes Minds

“As English solidifies its role as the global lingua franca, the subtle privileging of one culture over another in educational materials becomes more than an academic concern—it’s a challenge to cultural identity.” Read >

APPEARANCE

How “Big Back,” “Fatty,” and Other “Fatphobic” Slang Is Damaging Your Teen’s Mental Health

“NYU professor of linguistics Renee Blake says that [‘big back’] has roots in the ‘Black London community, meaning “derrière” in a positive light,’ and that it only became negative through appropriation.” Read >

PLAIN LANGUAGE

National Weather Service Makes Big Changes to Cold Weather Alerts Ahead of Winter

“This is part of a ‘hazard simplification project,’ with the NWS seeking to use plain language to alert the public to potentially hazardous weather.” Read >

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

How “The Queer Arab Glossary” Challenges Stereotypes About Arab Homophobia

“[Marwan Kaabour] says his work also aims to strike down the stereotype that Arab people are homophobic and unwilling to embrace queerness in their communities. ‘We need to stop making these big, broad strokes of judgments, and just have a more nuanced understanding of each other and the way we think.’” Read >

CLIMATE + ENVIRONMENT

Getting People to Eat Plant-Based Foods Is Hard—but Why, Exactly?

“Is it really possible to get people to eat more plants just by putting vegetarian dishes at the top of the menu, or offering them plant-based meals by default and hoping they don’t ask for meat instead? According to research, the answer is yes.” Read >

CREATIVE WRITING

Where Are the Black Girls in New YA Shows & Movies?

“If you are repeatedly erased from the shows, films and books you see around you, you are further alienated, further othered, far more likely to move around the world feeling ‘odd’—and nobody benefits from that more than the racist systems built to never let us reach or see our potential and humanity.” Read >

MISCELLANEOUS > TRANSPARENCY

Trust Kits: Artificial Intelligence

“Research shows people are more likely to trust information when they know how it was created. So, explaining exactly what the AI did, why it was used and how humans were involved helps demystify the use of the technology.” Visit Miscellaneous >

ETHNICITY, RACE + NATIONALITY

Reclaiming the Tiki Bar

“A recent movement aims to shift from the word ‘tiki’ to ‘tropical’ and [Mariah Kunkel, cofounder of Pasifika Project] is on board. ‘I just don’t think it’s necessary to use stereotypes or appropriate cultural elements to transport folks.’ She says, however, that tiki can lead people to learn about the culture of Pacific Islanders.” Visit Ethnicity, Race + Nationality >

From the Archives

Moving Beyond “Default” Language in Pop-Culture Criticism

On the practice of assuming that straightness and Whiteness are culturally neutral. Read >

In Case You Missed It

In the August 2024 newsletter…

• The Hidden Racism of Book Cover Design
• The Word “Vegan” Is Still More Reviled Than “Plant-Based” But…Why?
• 10 Things Adults Should Never Say to Kids, According to Psychologists

Read >

Stuff to Buy

A Ghoul Gift for Halloween! Mimi doesn’t look like the other ghosts—but she wishes she did. “A pun-tacular ghost story.”—Booklist. Themes in So Not Ghoul: new student, blending in, bullying, cultural misappropriation. For a free 12-page activity guide, a signed bookplate, or ways to buy, visit KarenYin.com/Books.

New Board Book! Fans of Whole Whale will love the huggable 9” by 9” board book format. 100 unusual animals try to squeeze into the pages of this raucous rhyming tale. But will there be room to fit a whole blue whale? Features an expansive double gatefold and a list of the animals. "This simple rhyming book packs a powerful message."—School Library Journal. Visit KarenYin.com/Books to learn more.

You Need This T-Shirt! Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

Photo by Uni-T.

Other Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Shop for Diverse Picture Books: On DiversePictureBooks.com, find exceptional picture books that spread understanding, compassion, and joy through diverse representation.

Get More Tips on Instagram: Follow @ConsciousStyleGuide for examples of context that supports sensitive content.

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Bluesky | Threads

AUGUST 2024

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

DESIGN + IMAGES

The Hidden Racism of Book Cover Design

“There persists in the industry the sticky question of how explicitly a writer’s identity should be signalled on the cover—and the ensuing struggle, for many authors, of how hard to push back if and when things veer into stereotype.” Read >

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

Advocates Say Words Matter When Labelling Recent Death a Femicide

Heidi Illingworth, executive director of Ottawa Victim Services, “said the use of the label is so significant because it opens the door to finding solutions to femicide instead of ignoring it.” Read >

ABILITY + DISABILITY

When Does Concern About Presidential Fitness Become Media Ableism?

“In terms of covering political campaigns, some common pitfalls to avoid include…diagnosing candidates without evidence; using illness or disability as a metaphor; conflating age with ability; conflating physical and cognitive health; using stigmatizing language to describe incapacities; and highlighting issues with ability or health without explaining why they are concerning.” Read >

JOURNALISM

Readers Trust Journalists Less When They Debunk Rather Than Confirm Claims

“Being disagreeable, like when pointing out someone else’s lie or error, carries with it a risk of backlash.” Read >

ANIMALS

The Word “Vegan” Is Still More Reviled Than “Plant-Based” but…Why?

“Being reminded that a food doesn’t include an ingredient you like isn’t going to make you want to buy it more, and might make you want it even less. If, on the other hand, you’re reminded of the delicious qualities of the ingredients the dish does include, it becomes much more appealing.” Read >

ETHNICITY, RACE + NATIONALITY

How Being Intentional With Your Language Can Shift Your Thinking

“The issue with ‘stakeholder’ isn’t just that the term might ‘offend people’…it’s that the use of this language brings along with it a particular way of thinking about all the people who are interested in or affected by a particular outcome.” Read >

Seeking impartial news? Meet 1440.

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TEACHING CHILDREN

10 Things Adults Should Never Say to Kids, According to Psychologists

Instead of saying, “Make sure to hug [insert name here] goodbye,” adults can suggest to their child that they can offer a hug, handshake, or fist bump. Read >

ETHNICITY, RACE + NATIONALITY

In a First, Botanists Vote to Remove Offensive Plant Names From Hundreds of Species

“The one-letter change would mean removing references to…an Apartheid-era slur used to discriminate against Black people in South Africa.” Read >

CLIMATE + ENVIRONMENT

If You Want Americans to Pay Attention to Climate Change, Just Call It Climate Change

“We found no evidence that the alternative terms increased people’s sense of urgency, willingness to support climate-friendly policies or willingness to act.” Read >

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

The “Prosecutor vs. Felon” Line Isn’t the Slam Dunk Team Harris Thinks It Is

“Being convicted of a felony doesn’t disqualify someone from running for public office, and it shouldn’t mean that someone is inherently unfit to serve anyway. But the specifics of what Trump did—the lies and the fraud—make a more compelling case against him than any one label could.” Read >

HEALTH

Yes, the Way We Talk About Suicide Matters

“Speculating about the reason for someone’s death or attributing their death to one specific cause—such as blaming a celebrity’s death on a breakup—perpetuates the misconception that a single factor can cause suicide.” Read >

The Asian American Journalists Association Style Guide

“It is our hope that this guide can bring more nuance, accuracy and accountability to coverage of the AAPI population, which is made up of about 50 ethnic groups that speak more than 100 languages.” Visit Ethnicity, Race + Nationality >

From the Archives

Are All Grandmothers Amazing Cooks?

“The phenomenon is essentially a threefold stereotype involving gender, age, and (for bonus credibility) ethnicity.” Read >

In Case You Missed It

In the July 2024 newsletter…

• Why We Shouldn’t Call Trump a “Criminal”
• Stop Saying “Conservative” When You Mean Fascist
• Words Such as Racist Slurs Can Literally Hurt—Here’s the Science

Read >

Stuff to Buy

Photo by Uni-T.

You Need This T-Shirt! Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

Shop for Diverse Picture Books: On DiversePictureBooks.com, find exceptional picture books that spread understanding, compassion, and joy through diverse representation.

Other Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Get More Tips on Instagram: Follow @ConsciousStyleGuide for examples of context that supports sensitive content.

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Bluesky | Threads

JULY 2024

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Why We Shouldn’t Call Trump a “Criminal”

“When we use dehumanizing language to describe former President Trump, we are, by extension, stigmatizing others who lack Trump’s wealth and connections.” Read >

JOURNALISM

Stop Saying “Conservative” When You Mean Fascist

“It’s obvious why mainstream news organizations like to use the word ‘conservative.’ It’s a long-accepted term that doesn’t seem to offend anyone. And it’s the word that many people on the right prefer. But it’s not accurate.” Read >

ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY + RACE

59% of N. Korean Defectors Advocate for Changing Legal Terminology: Survey

“When asked about their preferred alternative terms, 27.9 percent of the respondents chose ‘Hanamin,’ implying the unification of the two Koreas, followed by another term, ‘Bukhyangmin,’ meaning people whose hometown is North Korea.” Read >

DESIGN + IMAGES

How Published Images of a “Happy Couple” Can Hurt Victims of Domestic Abuse

“Domestic abuse campaigners and charities have criticised a number of media outlets for publishing photos of happy couples, taken before the woman’s attack or death at the hands of her partner. Critics say these images, often accompanied by language of surprise that ‘a nice guy’ could commit such a horrific act, can hurt those affected by domestic abuse.” Read >

JOURNALISM

Research Highlights Need for Public Health Approach in News Reporting of Gun Violence

“Trauma-informed journalism recognizes the need for journalists to better understand how trauma can affect survivors and how to avoid reporting that could cause additional harm to vulnerable people and those who have experienced trauma. The practice also helps journalists to protect their own mental health.” Read >

ETHNICITY, RACE + NATIONALITY

How Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees Seek Health Care in the US: A Primer and Research Roundup

“The terms ‘refugee,’ ‘asylum seeker’ and ‘immigrant’ are often used in discussions about people moving from one country to another, but they have distinct meanings based on the reasons for their move and individuals’ legal status.” Read >

HEALTH

Words Such as Racist Slurs Can Literally Hurt—Here’s the Science

“Research suggests that although words are abstract they really can cause a reaction similar to physical hurt. In fact, pain is intimately linked to language.” Read >

EMPOWERMENT

More Than Just “We’re Sorry”—How Companies Can Make Apologies We Will Actually Believe

“The timing of an apology is crucial. Apologising quickly shows the company is serious about fixing the issue. Delayed apologies can frustrate customers and signal a lack of urgency or that an issue isn’t a priority.” Read >

PLAIN LANGUAGE

Readers of Online News Prefer Simple Headlines, Research Suggests. Journalists? Not So Much.

“Simple headlines are not necessarily shorter, the research finds. While using common words, an informal style and better readability were associated with higher click rates, character count was not.” Read >

CLIMATE + ENVIRONMENT

Austria: Can I Claim That My Product Is Climate Neutral?

“In a recent judgment, the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) held that the claim ‘climate neutral’ is ambiguous and often misleading unless the advertisement itself explains its specific meaning.” Read >

SUICIDE

The S-Word

“Guidelines from the Higher Education Mental Health Alliance advise that messages to the campus should only confirm a death as a suicide if the family approves, and if designated officials decide that leaving out the information would be ‘disingenuous,’ possibly because the death was very public or the community is widely aware of the suicide.” Read >

List of Statements on Bias in Library and Archives Description

Examples of acknowledging biased, outdated, or harmful language. Visit Miscellaneous: Bridging and Context >

Better Gun Violence Reporting: A Toolkit for Minimizing Harm

“Typical coverage focuses on individual episodes of gun violence and often lacks an explanation of what causes it and what could be done to prevent it. These reporting practices can further stigmatize marginalized communities and promote fatalism around gun violence prevention.” Visit Miscellaneous: Hatred and Violence >

Talking to Kids About Cancer

“Explaining a cancer diagnosis to children or teenagers can feel difficult and overwhelming, but talking sensitively and honestly about cancer can reassure them during a time of uncertainty and change.” Visit Teaching Children >

From the Archives

“Themself” Is a Perfectly Cromulent Word

“Advances in language help us imagine other ways of being.” Read >

In Case You Missed It

In the June 2024 newsletter…

• In Defense of Butch Bodies
• The American Novel Has a Major Problem With Fat People
• How Should We Talk About Dementia? Choosing Better Terminology

Read >

Stuff to Buy

Photo by Uni-T.

You Need This T-Shirt! Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

Shop for Diverse Picture Books: On DiversePictureBooks.com, find exceptional picture books that spread understanding, compassion, and joy through diverse representation.

Other Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Get More Tips on Instagram: Follow @ConsciousStyleGuide for examples of context that supports sensitive content.

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Bluesky | Threads

JUNE 2024

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

In Defense of Butch Bodies

“My concern is that whenever there is a debate between cisgender, heterosexual-appearing people, there is always a risk that queer and trans people will become the collateral damage when the insults take on the homophobic and transphobic attitudes held so widely in society. That is precisely what happened in this case.” Read >

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

The Queer History of Butches

“Butch identity remains an important staple of queer communities across the globe, and it continues to be an important and affirming term for so many.” Read >

APPEARANCE

The American Novel Has a Major Problem With Fat People

“Authors like Carmen Maria Machado, Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, Sarai Walker, Renee Watson, Susan Stinson, and more have written recent novels and story collections in which fat characters are nuanced, busy with other concerns, or otherwise complex and irreducible.” Read >

HEALTH

How Should We Talk About Dementia? Choosing Better Terminology

“I think it’s important to consider that it is our personal experiences and our lived experiences that make some terms feel more icky than others.”—Adria Thompson, founder, Be Light Care Consulting. Read >

ANIMALS

Is Seeing Believing? Not Really, so Animal Welfare Campaigns Should Take a Different Approach

“Given that many humans have a poor view of animals’ lives, I propose designing public awareness campaigns that illuminate the richness of those lives…Many people may not realize that animals grieve, forge intimate relationships throughout their lifetimes and have their own forms of social organization and profound emotional lives.” Read >

CLIMATE + ENVIRONMENT

Reporting Guidance: 2024’s Extreme Heat

Tips and tools for reporting on extreme heat, including “concise, scientifically vetted language making the climate connection that you can insert directly into your copy.” Read >

SUICIDE

Language Matters in Preventing Suicide

“It’s critical to avoid sensationalized reporting that mistakenly glorifies suicide or discloses information about means and methods that vulnerable people may choose to adopt, especially when such reporting does not include context about help that is available and alternatives for people facing challenging circumstances.” Read >

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CONTEXT

Prebunking vs. Debunking Interventions: Comparative Analysis

“While Debunking is closely tied to fact-checking, Prebunking is tied to a wider range of specific interventions, some of which increase motivation to be vigilant against misinformation and others increase the ability to engage in vigilance with success.” Read >

JOURNALISM

AP Stylebook’s New Chapter on Crime Is a Glimpse Into the Future

“The chapter instructs journalists to be wary of police reports, especially early ones.” Read >

PLAIN LANGUAGE

Disability Advocates Are Winning the Right to Plain Language Voting

“A Ballotpedia analysis…found that, on average, they required a graduate-school reading level to understand. That can be a challenge for most people who haven’t pursued higher education, let alone people with intellectual disabilities or symptoms that affect their cognition, like those experiencing brain fog.” Read >

HEALTH / CONTEXT

Surgeon General: Why I’m Calling for a Warning Label on Social Media Platforms

“It is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents…Evidence from tobacco studies show that warning labels can increase awareness and change behavior.” Read >

CLIMATE + ENVIRONMENT

What’s the Deal With Terms Like “Greenhouse Effect,” “Global Warming,” “Climate Change,” and “the Climate Emergency”?

“Use of these more dire words will likely affect public perception of the issue and the resulting sentiment on climate policy. The question is how.” Read >

Sensitivity Reader Toolkit

“A toolkit for newsrooms of any size and mission interested in working with sensitivity readers, authenticity editors, and cultural consultants.” Visit Creative Writing >

From the Archives

What Needs to Change

“Editing itself should be invisible—copyeditors can no longer afford to be.” Read >

In Case You Missed It

In the May 2024 newsletter…

• How to Cite AI
• Here’s How I Talk to My Students About Pronouns, Including My Own
• How Leaders and Advocates Can Reclaim the Narrative Around DEI

Read >

Stuff to Buy

Photo by Uni-T.

You Need This T-Shirt! Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

Shop for Diverse Picture Books: On DiversePictureBooks.com, find exceptional picture books that spread understanding, compassion, and joy through diverse representation.

Other Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Get More Tips on Instagram: Follow @ConsciousStyleGuide for examples of context that supports sensitive content.

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Bluesky | Threads

MAY 2024

Today is publication day! The Conscious Style Guide is now available in the U.S. and Canada as a hardcover, an ebook, and an audiobook. Because so many of you preordered (thank you!), Little, Brown Spark has already gone back to press for another printing. If my flexible approach to conscious and inclusive language resonates with you, please spread the word by leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes & Noble. Some good news for readers in the U.K., Australia, or New Zealand: The U.K. edition will be published in June. ~ Karen Yin P.S. Click here to read a review by Erin Brenner, author of The Chicago Guide for Freelance Editors.

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

RECLAIMING

How Leaders and Advocates Can Reclaim the Narrative Around DEI

“By consistently using your chosen terminology and defending it, you maintain clarity and control over the narrative, preventing your opponent from dictating the terms of the discussion.” Read >

ABILITY + DISABILITY

Words Matter: Reframing Neurodivergence in Science, Medicine and Society

“Is autism a superpower? Or is it a characteristic lack of empathy? These and other descriptors—together with a past tendency to view neurodivergent people as needing ‘fixing’—are in fact unhelpful and even damaging.” Read >

TEACHING CHILDREN

“Lazy”, “Messy”, “Smart”: How Labels Affect a Child’s Personality Development

“Experts have found a link between child labelling and the Pygmalion effect, showing there is a high probability that adults’ expectations become self fulfilling prophecies.” Read >

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

Here’s How I Talk to My Students About Pronouns, Including My Own

“When people talk about trans and nonbinary educators, they often assume that we’re getting in kids’ faces, correcting pronouns resentfully, talking about gender in a way inappropriate for their age, and forcing students to be who they’re not. The truth is it’s far more mundane.” Read >

ETHNICITY, RACE + NATIONALITY

Here’s Why the Makers of “Ghostbusters” Called in a Muslim “Cultural Consultant”

Cultural consultants provide input that “helps filmmakers navigate potential pitfalls, avoid stereotypes, and portray diverse communities with nuance and sensitivity.” Read >

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

Lily Gladstone Is Not Two-Spirit. They Just Use Rolling Pronouns

“Because Two-Spirit refers to specific cultural roles within Native communities, it is not the same as being Indigenous and trans, or Indigenous and nonbinary, or Indigenous and queer. While Two-Spirit people can also be trans, queer, or nonbinary, being Two-Spirit is its own category of identity.” Read >

VIOLENCE / CONTEXT

“Baby Reindeer” Highlights Sexual Violence Against Men—but Feels Indifferent to Viewer Safety

“We should rethink how content advisories are used, and whether they truly inform viewers or absolve creators of deeper ethical responsibilities.” Read >

JOURNALISM

Covering Protests Over the War in Gaza? Here’s What Journalists Should Be Asking Themselves

“Use ‘pro’ and ‘anti’ with caution. Or avoid them all-together. Instead, describe what protesters are hoping to accomplish.” Read >

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

How Inclusive Language Can Help to Reduce Birth Trauma

“Many people want a simple recipe for inclusive language: a set of instructions they can follow in every case, for example, ‘replace all gendered terms with gender neutral terms’. But a simple recipe like this doesn’t always give the best results.” Read >

GENERAL

How to Cite AI

“The editors of The Chicago Manual of Style, the MLA Handbook, and the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association have all published blog posts on how they want writers to format this kind of citation.” Read >

Writing Consciously About Animals

A primer on reframing language to advocate for non-human animals. Visit Miscellaneous >

From the Archives

From Bias and Blame to Balance: Sensitive Style for Covering Sexual Violence

“Question irrelevant or gendered descriptions of the victim; being attractive, drunk, flirty, promiscuous, or all of the above doesn’t make the victim deserving of sexual assault.” Read >

In Case You Missed It

In the April 2024 newsletter…

• Hollywood’s New Fantasy: A Magical, Colorblind Past
• In Defense of Man: Has the Hate Men Trend Gone Too Far?
• Why Scrapping the Term “Long COVID” Would Be Harmful for People With the Condition

Read >

Stuff to Buy

Photo by Uni-T.

You Need This T-Shirt! Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

Shop for Diverse Picture Books: On DiversePictureBooks.com, find exceptional picture books that spread understanding, compassion, and joy through diverse representation.

Other Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Get More Tips on Instagram: Follow @ConsciousStyleGuide for examples of context that supports sensitive content.

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Bluesky

APRIL 2024

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.

APPEARANCE

Author Lindy West Wants You to Think About These Five Things When You Meet a “Fat” Person

“[Lindy] West explained that she and others in the fat liberation space don’t like the word obese because it unnecessarily medicalizes them.” Read >

CREATIVE WRITING

Does Hollywood Have a Pain Problem? Study of Netflix Finds That Depictions of Pain in TV and Movies Could Be Reinforcing Stereotypes

In adolescent media, “characters generally didn’t respond to other people experiencing pain in an empathic way or with prosocial behaviors like distraction, sharing, helping, vocal sympathy, physical comfort.” Read >

CREATIVE WRITING / ETHNICITY, RACE + NATIONALITY

Hollywood’s New Fantasy: A Magical, Colorblind Past

“There is nothing wrong with dreaming of things that never were, but we shouldn’t use that power to pretend bad things didn’t happen.” Read >

ABILITY + DISABILITY

Autistic Literature Will Flourish When We Stop Insisting That Writers Qualify Their Autism

“There’s an implicit insistence that autistic writers do one of two impossible things: 1) exactly recreate the reader’s own, hyper-individual autistic experience; or 2) write autofiction so laden with their own pain and misery that the reader must drop their criticism and concede to the writer the title of Perfect Sufferer.” Read >

PLAIN LANGUAGE

Striving for Excellence in Exhibition Label Writing

“We noticed that a set of standards for winning entries began to organically emerge. Typically, the best labels shared the ‘3 Cs’ of quality label copy. They were clear, concise, and captivating.” Read >

HEALTH

Why Scrapping the Term “Long COVID” Would Be Harmful for People With the Condition

“Naming a new condition is a step towards better recognition of people’s suffering, and hopefully, better diagnosis, health care, treatment and acceptance by others.” Read >

CLIMATE + ENVIRONMENT

Is it Time to Retire the Term “Clean Energy”?

“[Eric Gimon, a senior fellow at Energy Innovation] uses the shorthand ‘clean enough’ to explain why some technologies can be described as clean even if they are not 100 percent clean on a lifecycle basis.” Read >

JUSTICE SYSTEM

Let’s Be Accountable About the Word “Accountability”

“When we allow ‘accountability’ to frame discussions about [juvenile justice], we are distracted from those things that can be measured and, like age-appropriate support and services, are effective at changing youthful behavior.” Read >

GENERAL

Marketers, Here Is Why the Term “Marginalized” Is Uncomfortable but Necessary

“This is in no way an attempt to say that marginalized communities are only shaped by or relegated to be defined by the systemic circumstances that have affected their existence. There are so many more layers to who they are, including joy and ingenuity, alongside resilience and perseverance. The term ‘marginalized’ instead honors them and anchors their story in its truth.” Read >

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

In Defense of Man: Has the Hate Men Trend Gone Too Far?

“By tearing down individual men, you are not affecting the system that has put them in a position of power.” Read >

AGE

2 Common Work Questions That Are Secretly Ageism in Disguise

“Even if you are younger, you cannot escape ageism. Assumptions about your capabilities or seniority based on your age (or a younger appearance) can be rampant in the workplace, often undermining people’s skills.” Read >

GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY

What Do Demigender, Demiboy and Demigirl Mean? Key LGBTQ+ Terms Explained

“Demigender is an umbrella term that usually includes non-binary gender identities. Demigender may include: demigirl, demiboy, demienby, demiandrogyne and demitrans.” Read >

ETHNICITY, RACE + NATIONALITY

AI Chatbots Use Racist Stereotypes Even After Anti-Racism Training

“The researchers even showed that the larger AI systems demonstrated more covert prejudice against African American English speakers than the smaller models did. That echoes previous research showing how bigger AI training datasets can produce even more racist outputs.” Read >

ABILITY + DISABILITY

Disability-Affirming Language: Person-First Versus Identity-First Language

“While person-first language is still commonly used by governments, in medical spheres, and by disability advocacy organizations, many in the disability community now believe that person-first language considers disability to be an inherent negative.” Read >

The Problem With Aspberger’s

“For an eponymous diagnosis, Asperger merits neither the credit nor the honor—and in fact, other conditions named after physicians found to have participated in Nazi extermination now go by other terms, such as Reiter Syndrome (reactive arthritis).” Visit Ability + Disability >

From the Archives

Drop the Hyphen in “Asian American”

“Many of the then-new guidelines that drew such ire are commonplace and generally accepted in the wider culture today. The passage of time, in that sense, is the great unifier, more powerful than any punctuation or stylebook could ever be.”—Henry Fuhrmann. Read >

In Case You Missed It

In the March 2024 newsletter…

This edition features articles about slurs in order to help readers avoid language that may have unintended impacts and associations.

Read >

Stuff to Buy

Photo by Uni-T.

You Need This T-Shirt! Play, work, and sleep in the super soft “Make Peace With Words” T-shirt. Choose from a variety of colors. (Sizes: Fitted shirts available in XXS through XXL, and straight-cut shirts available in XS through XXL.) Hand-printed with love. Your purchase supports two small businesses owned by women of color. Why make peace? Read the article!

Shop for Diverse Picture Books: On DiversePictureBooks.com (my Bookshop.org storefront), find exceptional picture books that spread understanding, compassion, and joy through diverse representation.

Other Resources

Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.

Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Get More Tips on Instagram: Follow @ConsciousStyleGuide for examples of context that supports sensitive content.

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Bluesky