Writing used to be crammed with outdated assumptions that gave special importance to a man's role in society. It wasn't until the 1960s and 1970s that inclusive and gender-neutral writing began to gain ground. In the 1960s, gender-exclusive language began a steady decline. Academics, speech writers and professionals began to root out the pervasive "he" that previously popped up any time an unnamed subject appeared. By the 1990s, most colleges and newspapers endorsed inclusive language.
Inclusive writing excludes masculine language for more generic terms. For instance, "cameraman," is replaced with "photographer," "congressman" is exchanged for "representative" and "fireman" is replaced with "firefighter." Furthermore, masculine pronouns are often avoided, or used interchangeably with feminine ones. Flipping back and forth between "he" and "she" to describe an unknown and generic subject is appropriate in inclusive writing. Using pronouns that heavily emphasize one sex over the other---like only using "he" and "him"--- is not acceptable.
Inclusive writing uses acceptable and inoffensive terms for members of racial, ethnic and other minority groups. Examples of inclusive terms when referring to specific racial groups are "African American," "Native American" and "Asian." Inclusive writing excludes the use of any racial slurs, epithets or other terms that a group might find offensive. Also, inclusive writing only mentions race if its acknowledgment is crucial to the topic at hand.
Inclusive writing can help writers handle topics about people with disabilities because it avoids offensive terms like "cripple" or "handicapped." Instead of referring to a person by a disorder--for example, calling a person with narcolepsy "a narcoleptic"--inclusive writing encourages the writer to say that the person has the disorder: "she has narcolepsy." This sort of language is a by-product of the U.S. Disability Rights Movement, which started in the 1970s. Supporters of the movement endorsed the use of language that didn't demean or belittle a person for having a physical or mental disability.
Discriminatory language can alienate and even offend readers. It can also reinforce stereotypes, and enhance the perception that certain groups are inferior. Cultures are generally comprised of different groups and inclusive writing is designed to encompass all of them. Content analysis shows that exclusive language still sometimes occurs in newspapers, but its use is becoming more and more uncommon over time.