The ATA Chronicle - January/February 2022 - 17

exception of a few partial
holdouts (we're looking
at you, Chicago Manual of
Style!3
guides and dictionaries
now endorse it because it
essentially takes gender
out of the equation.
2. Let the ladies lead now
and again. Writers in
most languages tend to
mention men first except
in situations involving
chivalry (ladies and
gentlemen) or presumed
maternal instincts
(mothers and fathers
gets roughly twice the
Google hits as fathers and
mothers). Translating a
paragraph about a crack
team of financial planners
made up of women and
men? Make your writing
more engaging by
alternating the order in
which they're introduced.
3. What's good for the
goose is good for the
gander. Even if it's
clear from the source
language that a woman is
married, always, always,
always use Ms. (or Dr. or
Professor, if applicable)
when translating her
title into English, unless
you know her preferred
form of address. Because
marital status shouldn't
matter, period.
4. Be aware of the
grammatical gender gap.
One of the advantages
of English is that it's a
natural gender language,
meaning gender
distinctions are only
made in pronouns. But in
Romance languages, for
example, animate and
inanimate objects have
gender and the adjectives
used to describe them
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), all the major style
have to agree in gender.
When the source is
laden with gender
information, translating
it is tempting-but
often unnecessary. Ask
yourself: What's gender
got to do with it in
English? If the answer is
" nothing, " leave it out.
Yellow Light: Proceed
with Caution
The next three subtle sexism
patterns affect the source
and the target and may need
to be brought to your client's
attention, depending on the
nature of the project, your
relationship with your client,
the deadline, and other
real-world factors. Whether
you raise the flag to your
client or not, you should feel
empowered to move away
from the sexism you see in
the source.
5. Watch for weak verbs.
Many writers save
powerful, task-oriented
verbs for men and weaker,
people-oriented verbs for
women. Just because she's
taking care and he's taking
charge4
in the source
doesn't mean you have to
replicate it in the target.
This is another good
reason to use strong verbs
in your translations across
the board.
6. Watch for loaded
adjectives. Similarly,
adjectives can be a
real minefield. Don't
use descriptors that
fit only one gender.
Have you ever heard
a man described as
wearing something
revealing, or being bossy
or emotional? On the
flip side, adjectives like
assertive and confident are
compliments for men but
thinly veiled insults for
women. Women are also
more likely to be saddled
with adjectives bestowing
faint praise, like helpful
and conscientious,
which certainly don't
scream " star performer
deserving of a raise! "
Stick with strong
adjectives that aren't
gender-charged, carry
the same connotation,
and actually convey
meaningful information.
7. Watch for non-neutral
nouns. The generic he
is a thing of the past,
so avoid using genderspecific
nouns to refer
to all humans and
don't assume certain
occupations are held
by people of a certain
gender. Think chairperson
(not chairman), flight
attendant (not stewardess),
and housekeeper (not
cleaning lady). English has
plenty of neutral nouns to
draw on instead.
One caveat: Sometimes
it's a good idea to
make gender more
visible. For instance,
in a job description for
a traditionally maledominated
position,
consider using his or her
(or why not her or his?)
instead of the singular
they to encourage female
applicants. ( " The faculty
chair will fulfill his or her
role by.... " ) Hopefully this
more inclusive wording
will resonate with
non-binary candidates as
well. And a word to the
wise: If you ever need to
write or translate a job
description in English,
run it through the Gender
Decoder5
to make sure
it doesn't inadvertently
sound sexist.
Red light: Danger Ahead
The last three are not-sosubtle
examples of sexism
that could potentially
alienate or even offend the
target audience, so they
warrant an explanatory
comment or email to your
client every time.
8. Ditch the dichotomy.
Be on high alert for
stereotypes slipping in
any time a woman and
a man are mentioned
in the same sentence
or paragraph (a sister
and brother, a father
and mother, female/
male coworkers). We
tend to think of men and
women in opposition,
even though studies have
shown we're more alike
than different.6
This is all too common
in marketing contexts.
As early as our toddler
years, we're indoctrinated
to believe that girls like
certain toys (pink aisle)
and boys like others (blue
aisle), and never the twain
shall meet. Marketing
aimed at adults often
draws on trite stereotypes
in the division of labor,
with women stuck inside
(cleaning products, child
rearing) and men outside
(tools, cars).7
But gender " norms "
are a social construct, so
if you have the poetic
license-maybe you're
translating a fictional
training scenario or
a creative marketing
piece-switch up the
gender roles and leave
your client a note
explaining why.
American Translators Association 17
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The ATA Chronicle - January/February 2022

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