A Content Writer’s Guide to Inclusive Language

You might have been hearing more and more about inclusive language lately. But what does inclusive language mean, exactly? And why should you think about it when writing content?

In this article, we’ll explain everything you need to know about inclusive language. We’ll also show you how to use inclusive language in your content, with some before and after examples.

What Is Inclusive Language?

In simple terms, inclusive language means using language that respects and promotes everyone as valued members of society. As such, inclusive language avoids words and phrases that reflect prejudiced, stereotyped, or antiquated views of particular groups of people. It favors alternative terms that retain the intended meaning without being harmful, exclusionary, or biased.

There are approximately seven main areas to pay attention to regarding inclusive language and writing:

• Age
• Appearance
• Disability and neurodiversity
• Gender
• Race, culture, and ethnicity
• Socioeconomic status
• Sexual and romantic orientation

We’ll discuss some of these in more detail in the following sections.

Why Is Inclusive Language Important?

Language has always evolved to reflect changes in society and culture. As our understanding of the world changes, so does our view of what is and isn’t acceptable, and these developments impact the language we use.

For example, we used to see terms such as fireman or air stewardess because these occupations were once exclusive domains of men and women, respectively. Nowadays, people view these terms as antiquated and exclusionary; they’ve been replaced with the gender-neutral terms firefighter and flight attendant, respectively.

But inclusive language involves far more than gender neutrality, though that’s important too. To be truly inclusive in your writing, you need to foster a greater sense of equality, diversity, and belonging in every word you write, taking extra care not to cause harm or offense to anyone who interacts with your content. The way you phrase things, the cultural references you include, and even the everyday colloquialisms you use can have a much bigger impact than you may think.

Your target audience may include people of diverse physical abilities, ages, language backgrounds, ethnicities, cultures, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic backgrounds. By writing more inclusively, you can give more people a better user experience and make sure no one is excluded on the basis of bias.

Toward a More Inclusive Society

We can see the progress society is making in the number of organizations now implementing diversity, equity and inclusion strategies and publishing inclusive language style guides on their websites.

The United Nations has created detailed guidelines for gender-inclusive language in all its official languages as part of its campaign for gender equality. To be more inclusive, Apple and Google are replacing terms such as blacklist and whitelist with more neutral ones such as allow list and deny list. And the AP Stylebook has made changes such as removing the hyphen from dual-heritage terms, including African American, because the practice caused a feeling of inequality, otherness, and incomplete citizenship.

How to Use Inclusive Language in Your Content

Using inclusive language can be complex, calling for an extra level of awareness and attention in choosing the right words and phrases. Here are seven simple and actionable writing tips to help make your content more inclusive.

1. Write with Intention
   Be mindful of the words you’re choosing and ask yourself whether there’s an alternative or a more appropriate word. You could try replacing the word in question with a synonym using the same phrase or imagine that you’re writing for a different demographic. Would you still write the phrase the same way?
2. Use Gender-Neutral Language
   Unless you’re specifically talking about a male or female, avoid expressions that refer to a particular gender exclusively. Stick with gender-neutral pronouns instead, including they, when someone’s gender is unknown and irrelevant. You may not realize that it’s fairly easy to be gender-neutral in English compared with languages such as French and Italian, which have gendered nouns.
3. Avoid Negative Connotations
   Many of our everyday phrases and idioms have negative connotations and discriminatory meanings we’re not aware of. For example, sold down the river is rooted in the days of slavery, and fall on deaf ears refers to hearing-related disabilities. To make sure an idiom is inclusive and respectful, the best practice is to consult a dictionary or do a Google search.
4. Write in Plain Language
   Plain language is direct, simple, and straightforward. You can improve readability by using shorter sentences and leaving out jargon, buzzwords, and pretentious words. Minimize your use of regional phrases and watch out for cultural references that some people may not understand.
5. Honor Unique Needs and Interests
   It’s good practice to refer to people as they refer to themselves. When talking about disability and neurodiversity, there are two approaches: person-first language (e.g., person with a disability) and identity-first language (e.g., a disabled person). Some groups prefer identity-first language as an expression of cultural pride and empowerment, so check what terms are most respectful for them.
6. Use an Inclusivity Tool
   Take advantage of built-in software tools, such as the AI-powered inclusivity language checker in Microsoft Word, to help you. You can opt to see inclusive language suggestions that seek to eliminate biases based on gender, age, ability, and more.
7. Make Your Writing Accessible
   It’s not just the words you use but the way you display them that can affect how inclusive your content is. Make sure your content is scannable through descriptive headings; keep paragraphs short; and use bullet points to break down important pieces of information. These strategies not only make your writing more accessible, but they also constitute good SEO practice.

3 Examples of Inclusive Language

Now let’s take a look at three examples of inclusive language. For each example, we highlight the before and after and explain how and why the text has been edited.

1. Race, Culture, and Ethnicity

The first step toward finding your tribe is to get clear on what you deeply cherish.

For many people, the expression find your tribe evokes a positive connotation of shared values, interests, and connections. However, when we use the word tribe casually in this way, we’re disrespecting and undermining the unique political and social status of the world’s Indigenous peoples, many of whom have fought to keep their tribal membership and continue to face discrimination because of their tribal affiliation.

A more inclusive and appropriate term is community. It retains the intended meaning and positive connotation of belonging to a group of like-minded people without causing harm or offense, even if unintentional.

The first step toward finding your community is to get clear on what you deeply cherish.

2. Gender

If you’re a wine novice, consider asking your waiter for a recommendation to go with your meal.

Although you can, theoretically, use waiter to refer to both men and women, the word very likely generates a male or masculine image in your mind. In fact, the Cambridge Dictionary defines waiter as “a man whose job is to bring the food to customers.” So unless you’re referring to a male waiter specifically, a more inclusive and accurate alternative is server.

If you’re a wine novice, consider asking your server for a recommendation to go with your meal.

3. Disability and Neurodiversity

It’s crazy how much your life can change in a year.

Words such as crazy or insane are easy to reach for when we want to express disbelief, surprise, or extraordinariness in our everyday speech. But without realizing it, we can trivialize the experiences of people who have a particular mental health condition or symptom. So take care to avoid these types of words and think about what you really mean instead. One of the key tenets of inclusive language is that it favors specificity (think firefighter as opposed to fireman). So if you mean unbelievable or incredible when you say crazy, those are the descriptors to use.

Let’s look at the same sentence written inclusively:

It’s incredible how much your life can change in a year.

Becoming A Freelance Writer

As you can see, using inclusive language in your content requires a conscious decision, but by following the steps we’ve outlined above, you can show your respect toward individual differences and a greater willingness to make more people feel welcome when they interact with your content.

Are you interested in taking your content writing skills to the next level? Check out our Becoming A Freelance Writer course. It will teach you everything you need to write engaging content that’s clear, compassionate, and respectful. Try it for free today.

Related posts:

What Is Fluff in Writing? (And How to Avoid It) Choosing Blog Post Images: The Dos and the Don’ts Can Google Detect AI Content? A Content Writer’s Guide to Search Intent Optimization