A top-tier Boston private school for girls is instructing staff to use “they/them” pronouns in their communications when referring to students.
Boston’s elite Winsor School for girls issued guidance for teachers regarding “gendered language” in a report on diversity, equity, and inclusion from the Fall.
“Although Winsor remains in its mission a school for ‘young women to pursue their aspirations and contribute to the world,’ the school recognizes the importance of inclusive language,” the report stated.
“Winsor has, for example, adopted changes to its use of gendered language and pronouns to be more inclusive,” Winsor’s guidance said. “External publications and communications have moved away from using ‘she, her, hers’ and ‘your daughter,’ replacing the former with ‘they, them, theirs’ and the latter with ‘student.’”
The report continued, “faculty and staff are discouraged from addressing groups of students as ‘girls’ and ‘ladies,’ and teachers address students by their preferred pronouns.”
The school was founded in 1886 and is one of the top schools in the nation — and parents dish out $53,900 a year for their daughter’s to attend.
“I often say that the responsibility we have as Winsor educators, as adults in the school, is to help students understand the very, very complex question ‘Who am I?’ A pretty simple question, but it is so layered, thinking about, ‘Who I am in terms of my gender and gender identity? Who am I in terms of my racial identity? Who am I in terms of my class?’” said Julie Braxton, Winsor’s director of community and inclusion, according to a report from the Daily Wire.
