Aussie airline bans staff from using ‘gender-inappropriate’ language

[New World Explorer]

Australian airline Qantas has instructed staff to no longer use phrases like “guys,” “mum and dad,” “husband” and “wife.”

The pack advised staff to refrain from using potentially offensive terms like “husband” and “wife” because they “can reinforce the idea that people are always in heterosexual relationships,” according to Sydney’s Daily Telegraph. “[A]lways referring to ‘mum and dad’ can make many families feel excluded — both same-sex couples and single-parent families... Words like ‘love,’ ‘honey’ or ‘darling,’ even when used as terms of endearment, often offend. In the workplace, it is best to avoid these sorts of words.”

https://www.rt.com/news/420925-australia-qantas-words-rules/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

 

The end is near.

At Jude 7, where we read that “Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them . . . are placed before us as a warning example

 

[Tortuga]

1 hour ago, Gregexplore said:

 

The end is near.

 

 

You know it..mate..

[Ahuvah]

I don't even know how to reply to something  like that ... it's so foreign to our thinking isn't it?

[cricket246]

I was just telling my friend I can see everything going opposite soon. Ex : A group of youths at school asks the youth what gender do you identify as and the JW witness explains their straight. Everyone gasps and says you're straight are you serious?! Instead of it being gay/bi people, straight people will soon be the ones treated as outcasts lol

[LindaViktoria]

What are you supposed to say instead of mum and dad?? Guardian?

[New World Explorer]

9 minutes ago, LindaViktoria said:

What are you supposed to say instead of mum and dad?? Guardian?

Exactly...  They just can't see how un-natural it is. 

[hatcheckgirl]

*groan*

It could be because the current CEO of Qantas is gay, maybe?

I can see this being rolled out in govt departments too. It’s offensive to call out our customers by their title, eg Mr or Mrs, while they wait to be served. Don’t actually know why.

[Ahuvah]

 Yes they are going to offend a wider group than the ones they are trying not to offend. I just don't get it.

[New World Explorer]

What next? Gender free eggs? LOL

https://www.motherandbaby.co.uk/for-you/parenting-the-funny-side/should-kinder-eggs-be-gender-neutral-mums-feud-over-new-blue-and-pink-themed-packaging

[Thesauron]

What are you supposed to say instead of mum and dad?? Guardian?

Parents, I suppose.

I don't even know how to reply to something  like that ... it's so foreign to our thinking isn't it?

I’m not sure about that. We do what we can to respect people’s feelings, even if it means going the extra mile.

[Ahuvah]

The foreign thinking I was referring to was referencing others with gender neutrality - not seasoning our words with salt - which of course I agree with. But I'd never stoop to the world's level and leave out pronouns that Jehovah has given us to use. 

29 minutes ago, Thesauron said:

Parents, I suppose.
I’m not sure about that. We do what we can to respect people’s feelings, even if it means going the extra mile.

 

[hatcheckgirl]

We’ve done away with husband/wife in our govt department. They are just your partner. No gender or marital bias. I can live with that, it’s not really going to matter in the service I offer. We aren’t guided by their rules in the end, but we do what we can to accommodate. 

 

Edit: we still do use parent or guardian, whatever is needed. 

Edited March 11, 2018 by hatcheckgirl

[Ahuvah]

I would not like my husband to be referred to as my partner - he's more than that. To me it's demeaning the sanctity of marriage ... interesting topic to consider. I think as individuals we should all sort out what our consciences are urging us to do, before the situation arises. 

[hatcheckgirl]

Exactly! I tend to go with what the customer wants, and most people in my area are just your garden variety Aussie who is sick of PC. 

[ChrisC]

2 hours ago, LindaViktoria said:

What are you supposed to say instead of mum and dad?? Guardian?

If a kid on a plane is a bit lively then perhaps ‘handler’ would be appropriate.

[skipdaflip]

Last week I read 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 and I think it is very well written. 

 

Man wad created in God's image. Because Adam missed a companion, God created Eve from a rib of Adam. Literally created from his bone. 

 

9 And what is more, man was not created for the sake of the woman, but woman for the sake of the man. 

 

The head of the man is Jesus, the head of a woman is the man. And the head of the Christ is God.

 

12 For just as the woman is from the man, so also the man is through the woman; but all things are from God. 

 

A woman is a gift from God to man. And we will be one flesh. As if she is taken from our rib. This tells how we should treat each other... equal! Because we would not treat ourselves badly. 

 

But without the goodness of God, there was no man. And without the man, there would be no woman. 

 

This world will not accept this scripture or command anymore. This in case of gender neutrality and #metoo. Emancipation gets worse and worse, just like gender neutrality. 

And these topics are on the agenda not that long ago. Gender neutrality about 2 or 3 years now, emancipation a little bit longer, but got a lot worse since #metoo.

Satan is working this out so perfectly well. Religion doesn't fit in any of all these boxes, so it will be of no shock if religion will be attacked. Cause the bible is discriminating and is not of this time. The bible separates and does not unite. 

And place boundaries, that is not from this time. 

 

We see that this is literally out of control and at it's end. With all the things that are happening about world piece, I sometimes think that Jehovah has already placed the thought in their hearts. Even the media don't understand why NK turns 'as a leave on a tree' and why Kim will maybe think about decreasing his arsenal.

 

Jehovah will plant it... it needs time to grow. We will see, but maybe we are seeing this prophety fulfil right in front of us right now. 

Edited March 11, 2018 by skipdaflip

[Thesauron]

The foreign thinking I was referring to was referencing others with gender neutrality - not seasoning our words with salt - which of course I agree with. But I'd never stoop to the world's level and leave out pronouns that Jehovah has given us to use. 
 

Those pronouns are human-made. We also change them, if we like, because of events in history.

Even our translators are careful to follow the changes in languages. With one caveat: the change is not done quickly if it is due to a political or social movement and its use would reveal a political stance.

For example, in Swedish it has over the years become more common to use a gender neutral pronoun, ‘hen’, and even though gender neutral pronouns are fine (many languages use them primarily), we do not follow the political movement backing such a change in Swedish. Swedish also has grammatical gender, which many languages do not, and even some are keen to remove that language function, the RTO does not follow.

Here’s an example: “The responsible man” becomes “den ansvarsfulle mannen” (which is also neutral if gender is unknown) whereas “the responsible woman” would become “den ansvarsfulla kvinnan”. Even things have a grammatical gender because of historical reasons. Will it change? Possibly. We will wait and see and follow how people talk, but not a political movement.

[Ahuvah]

i'm thinking more pronouns like husband and wife ... those were given to us by Jehovah ... sure the incidentals or connecting/describing pronouns are different as per language and have and will continue to change ... but I won't be replacing husband,wife sister brother etc. 

[Shawnster]

Technically husband and wife are nouns, not pronouns. 

 

He, she, him, her are pronouns.  

 

This would definitely come into play when translating scripture, I suppose. Jehovah is referred to in the masculine form with male pronouns. 

[Thesauron]

Technically husband and wife are nouns, not pronouns. 
 
He, she, him, her are pronouns.  
 
This would definitely come into play when translating scripture, I suppose. Jehovah is referred to in the masculine form with male pronouns. 

Yes, when the language has such a pronoun. Not all languages do. In Swedish there’s a movement towards genderless pronouns, as I mentioned earlier.

[Thesauron]

i'm thinking more pronouns like husband and wife ... those were given to us by Jehovah ... sure the incidentals or connecting/describing pronouns are different as per language and have and will continue to change ... but I won't be replacing husband,wife sister brother etc. 

Such nouns are common in most languages, even though there really are societies where such nouns as “husband” are unknown. The words were not given to us by Jehovah directly, and may change as the society changes, the way they’ve always done. Did you know, for instance, that there was a time when there really was no word for boy in English? “Girl” was the word used for children of either sex. It worked, until society changed it.


The concept, however, of a husband and wife, was instituted when the first marriage was performed back in Eden. What we call it, if anything, might change as the need arises.

[Shawnster]

1 hour ago, Thesauron said:

Such nouns are common in most languages, even though there really are societies where such nouns as “husband” are unknown. 

 

 

Which cultures and/or languages would these be? 

[Ahuvah]

2 hours ago, Thesauron said:

Such nouns are common in most languages, even though there really are societies where such nouns as “husband” are unknown. The words were not given to us by Jehovah directly, and may change as the society changes, the way they’ve always done. Did you know, for instance, that there was a time when there really was no word for boy in English? “Girl” was the word used for children of either sex. It worked, until society changed it.


The concept, however, of a husband and wife, was instituted when the first marriage was performed back in Eden. What we call it, if anything, might change as the need arises.

 

What I love about this site is the diversity of perspectives that add so much flavour to our topics.  However, respectfully, I draw a line when factions of Satan's system tell me how to season my speech - when I've spent a lifetime allowing myself to be molded and tweaked according to Jehovah's standards. So until terms change via Jehovah's channel I will adhere to my current way of speaking. Sorry to disagree with you, but in good conscience I can't agree with change unless Jehovah tells me too. 

[Thesauron]

 
What I love about this site is the diversity of perspectives that add so much flavour to our topics.  However, respectfully, I draw a line when factions of Satan's system tell me how to season my speech - when I've spent a lifetime allowing myself to be molded and tweaked according to Jehovah's standards. So until terms change via Jehovah's channel I will adhere to my current way of speaking. Sorry to disagree with you, but in good conscience I can't agree with change unless Jehovah tells me too. 

You’re doing fine. But in the end, the goal is to make ourselves understood by the people around us. That is why we follow the way people commonly talk, and that is how the texts in our publications are prepared as well.

Let me give you an example. In Swedish, Jehovah was commonly referred to as “fader”, which, you guessed correctly, is father. However, some years ago, this expression started to sound convoluted and ancient, and people changed to the short form “far” in their daily way of talking, which in some ears sounded a bit less respectful. But not so to the younger generation. So, in the revised nwt Jehovah is constantly referred to as “far”.

We will continue to adjust to the ever changing language. If gender neutral expressions become the norm, I’m sure we will adjust accordingly, and I am certain Jehovah will be happy with that.

[Ahuvah]

Agreed Brother Johan, if it's accepted by the Organization, otherwise even with our speech we can quickly find ourselves driving around those dark alleys of Satan's system ... I remember a part at the last convention ... where we need to adhere to the morality of Jehovah's standards - setting our moral compass if you like according to what comes through the scriptures and his channel. Speech can quickly deteriorate into something that means something totally different as you pointed out with "Fader" - and we can be very skillful in being both empathetic and understood by those in our community - not by changing our 'lingo' necessarily to be made understood, but by sticking to Jehovah's speech (the truth) and keeping it simple and using clear illustrations rather than perhaps condoning a lifestyle contrary to Jehovah's morals/standards by bringing our speech down to a level that is accepting of this world's declining morals. (That's not to be confused with being humble and speaking to all kinds as we would as a servant of Jehovah - just speech like clothing that defines certain lifestyles we don't agree with). 

 

The other point is - if Jehovah is drawing someone - there has to be a clear distinction between his people (and their dress and speech) and that of the world - or they may not see the difference.

Edited March 11, 2018 by Stormswift