The Evolution of Language - Part 1

I walked out of my favorite coffee shop this morning offering up gratitude with a quick, "Thanks guys!" as I turned to go. I love the people at this particular place, especially the eclectic bunch of 20-somethings that work there. They are just SO cool, and they deliver a great product and treat people with such curiosity and kindness. 

As I got to my car, though, I began to wonder about my use of the word, "guys." Curious about where it falls among the spectrum of gendered language. When I was in college, my writing professor brought to us his definition of the word "guys" as something gender neutral, and in the 90s I think it pretty much was accepted that way among many. I still often use the term as a collective "you all" my intention not affirming nor denying any sense of placement along the gender spectrum.

But language is always evolving, as we humans continue to grow and evolve. Expansion being our birthright as we hurdle through space on this planet within an ever-expanding universe, I want to be continually mindful of the language and symbology I am using. It's important to me not just to be wary of offense, but to also be in integrity with my words. Something that is deeply important to me. 

For example, when I was a young person, "tomboy" was a word often used to describe the rough and tumble girls. Regardless of the fact that I had little athletic prowess, I fancied myself a bit of a tomboy--cutting off my long locks and growing rat tails like my big brothers, being tough and emulating gender bending 80s fashion in elementary school. The conversations about gender continuum were just beginning then, the language around it just starting to evolve.

Today, we don't use the term "tomboy" anymore, and there is a wider known and accepted use of language that dismisses the need to even categorize different personality and character traits as uniquely male or female. There is still a long way to go, of course, but as we and our language evolve, so too do our actions, beliefs, and I hope beyond all hope that respect and equality under the law (and culturally) comes along with it. 

There is a wide berth of things I am wanting to say here (and perhaps will continue in future posts), but today I will start with this. As we evolve, as our language evolves there is a cycle of awareness, acceptance, and usage that comes along with it over time. I want to respect that cycle within my own identity--never believing myself to be confined to any one category or box in all sorts of ways and instead having a sense of knowing about my fluidity within. Not just gender or sex, but many aspects of the puzzle pieces that create my identity as a human on Earth. 

So will I continue to use the word "guys"? Yeah, I imagine it will come out of my mouth naturally as it does sometimes. But I will also notice and be mindful and continue to add truly gender neutral language to my lexicon - a lot of "y'alls" and "humans" and "people" because among us are the hearts of many who rely on us evolving for their own growth and evolution. We rely on each other more than you know, the collective we of existence demands that we take a look at ourselves and accept all the parts of us so that we may do the same for others and create a more compassionate, caring, and kind world.