The march of the politically correct – reshaping our language

And the ever-helpful University of New Hampshire website has a further very helpful guide about the correct way to use pronouns. This is, they say. Is "a starting point for using pronouns respectfully".

For example – "his" and "her" are out and should be replaced by "hir" which is "non-binary". We learn that "non-binary" pronouns "are often used by trans, genderqueer and other gender non-conforming people". And, wonder of wonders, if everybody spoke and wrote using this reengineered language it would mean that we would move "closer to a full democracy".

Purdue University has its own more or less similar list of naughty words – "Stereotypes and Biased Language" – and informs its students and faculty that "biased language" frequently occurs based on gender "but can also offend groups of people based on sexual orientation, ethnicity, political interest, or race". The university advises the terrible downside of not using "non-sexist" writing – "If you write in a sexist manner and alienate much of your audience from your discussion, your writing will be much less effective."

A unique service is provided for its students by the University of Nebraska and all they need is a set of coloured crayons to discover just where they are on the "gender-identity spectrum" and to provide a handy guide to "queer and trans community language". It is a drawing of a unicorn which is coloured in.

An example is given which shows how a student would fill out this page if he was a man who identified as a woman, was sexually attracted mainly to women but sometimes to men and other genders and who experienced little emotional attraction to any gender. Having discovered just how bloody mixed up he or she was, they could then learn what the correct language is to use to describe themselves and about how they want to be referred to.

The acronym LGBTQIAPP+ is offered as a comprehensive reference to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, aromantic, pansexual, (and) polysexual individuals" and how to address them and talk and write about them. Everybody is warned, "Trans people can be straight, bisexual, lesbian, gay, asexual, queer etc just like everybody else."

Already, the serious consequences of not abiding by these new rules are emerging. One recent case was of a student at Northern Arizona University having her English paper marked down because she used the word "mankind" instead of "humanity".

The student received an email from the staff member marking the paper stating, "I would be negligent, as a professor who is running a class about the human condition and the assumptions we make about being 'human', if I did not also raise this issue of gendered language and ask my students to respect the need for gender-neutral language."

However, the professor was careful not to display any "oppressive" superiority in the teacher/student relationship – that would be woefully politically incorrect - by adding unctuously, "I will respect your choice to leave your diction choices 'as is' and to make whatever political and linguistic statement you want to make by doing so." In other words if you are determined to be a sexist reactionary pig and refuse to enter the 21^st century then you can but you will suffer for it.

Not content with being absolutely politically correct, Bethel University – a self-described "Christ-centred university" – has a killer argument: God wants us to be inclusive and non-sexist with our language.

It preaches to staff and students via its "Language is a Powerful Tool" lesson: "The Bible teaches us to value all people because they are created in God's image. Some traditional uses of language have been received as excluding a substantial group of people. To be clear in our Christian witness, the Bethel faculty encourages the use of inclusive language."

It provides a predictable list of words and terms which good Christians should not use. The university supports "traditional marriage" but cautions against using the phrases like "man and wife" because they put women in a "dependent" position.