OK, got your attention.  Can you believe, when I mentioned a commonly used sexist phrase to friends and colleagues, their reactions could not have been more strident: “Give me a break,” “Are you nuts,” “You’re totally over-reacting,” “Jason, don’t you have anything better to do.” These reactions surprised me, but also suggested that I might have uncovered a phrase that is subtle but pervasive in our culture, and I knew it was worth pursuing.  In fact, it reminded me of my former days in the 1970s when I recorded the amount of time I was exposed to second-hand smoke and was astonished that it was over an hour each day. I received similar reactions at that time to my suggestion that there might be a problem with the then norm that smokers had the right to engage in their addictive behavior anytime and anyplace.

I might add that the sexist phrase I have encountered certainly does not have any of the health consequences of being exposed to second-hand smoke, but the sexist phrase still might have unearthed norms that are elusive if not pernicious. Certainly, we are all familiar with sexist language that permeates our culture and language, and offensive examples still occur in popular media. But they are for the most part readily identifiable, and those who are both educated and in a leadership position within educational institutions are arbitrators and facilitators of non-sexist practices, particularly to model appropriate norms for impressionable students. But what if these very norm setting educators, of both sexes, engage in a common sexist phrase that could at the unconscious level reinforce values that are anathema to their beliefs and values.

Although I have tackled in my career a number of inveterate problems, such as uncollected dog feces, a topic that I regrettably will always be remembered for, this verbal behavior had all the hallmarks of an insurmountable challenge. For you see, after observing and noting the sexist utterances among my staff, my junior employees, and even those in leadership roles, both males and females, within my academic institution and elsewhere, I realized the phrase had epidemic qualities, and yet was unrecognized. In fact, as I dutifully recorded instances of it for months, hardly a day passed without me tabulating multiple occurrences of this unexposed sexism.  In fact, I even tried to intervene several times by suggesting problems with the utterances, but soon the behavior re-emerged, and I had been incapably ineffective in extinguishing this behavior. Although I had met B.F. Skinner before he died, I would have loved to have tapped his repertoire of strategies to deal with this stubborn and persistent offensive behavior.

So, as all past efforts to ameliorate this blight have been unequivocal failures, I am left with the task of recording my escapades in this brief essay. As you have stayed with my cathartic rant long enough, the sexist phrase is just two words, simply: “you guys.”  Of course, some from parts of the East coast might pronounce this “yo guys,” but you get the point. And yes, I have seen men and women of prominence use such language when addressing primarily groups of women.  Now, I think there is nothing wrong with using such a phrase when in the presence of only men, although even this might be contested by some.

I know, I know, you think I am making Mountains out of Molehills, and even Sean Davis commented about this issue: “Just when you thought the absurdist Left couldn’t get more absurd,” but see if I am not wrong, and watch for this phrase among your friends and associates during normal conversation.  Observe, as I have, how it saturates our common discourse, and consider if it might not be replaced with more gender-neutral terminology. One colleague felt that was not possible, another indicator of the firmness with which “you guys” has infiltrated within the very fabric of our social interactions and discourse. But change is in the wind for this microaggression.  I only hope that one day this phrase will be like the monuments of the Confederacy, historical legacies of practices and beliefs without merit. The words we use matter, and betray the way power and inequity have been used to enslave generations, limiting their rights to exercise policies that liberate.