Kate Swift
Kate Swift (1923-2011) is an author, activist, and editor.[1][2][3][4] She was best known for working to make English-language writing more equal for men and women.[3] Swift invented a gender-neutral pronoun: "tey."[4][5]
Career
changeSwift worked in the army as an education and information specialist during World War II.[4][3] She was also a writer for the Port of New Orleans.[4] Swift then worked as an editorial assistant at Time Magazine.[4] She was also a news writer for the Public Relations Department of the Girl Scouts of America.[4] Swift became a science writer on the public affairs staff of the Museum of Natural History.[4] She was also the director of the news bureau of the School of Medicine at Yale, in 1965.[3][4]
Swift wrote two important books that brought attention to sexual discrimination in the English language.[4] Swift worked with Casey Miller to edit a manual to make it gender-inclusive.[2][4] Swift’s efforts resulted in Connecticut becoming one of the first states in the US to achieve same-sex marriage.[1] Swift has helped women be recognized as “full-fledged members of the human race”.[5]
References
change- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Maggio, Rosalie (May 13, 2011). "Kate Swift, Feminist Wordsmith, 1923 to 2011 - Women's Media Center". womensmediacenter.com. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Love, Barbara J. (2006). Feminists Who Changed America, 1963-1975. University of Illinois Press.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Swift, Corin (2011-07-19). "She "Desexed" Our Language: Remembering Kate Swift, 1923-2011". Ms. Magazine. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 Grimes, William (2011-05-10). "Kate Swift, Writer Who Rooted Out Sexism in Language, Dies at 87". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Baron, Dennis. "From they to tey to te: pronoun mansplaining in the 1970s". blogs.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-12.