Republican Governor Bans Employees From Using Certain Words

Arkansas Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order this week banning the use of certain words for government employees and official government documents.

“We are all here today to say, frankly, that we’ve had enough,” Sanders said during a press conference Thursday. “Enough trying to erase women and girls, enough denying our biological differences from men, and enough of the craziness that is taking over our country.

“I’ve had the honor of being both the first woman and the first mother to serve as the governor of Arkansas. Before that, I was the first mother and only the third woman to serve as the White House press secretary. Because of that, I came into this role with a few pretty unique experiences. Among them is giving birth to three amazing kids. That experience underscored to me that a woman’s perspective is important and fundamentally different from a man’s.”

Sanders went on to criticize some on the left for their use of what she called “nonsense words to erase women and girls and more importantly, to erase our voices and experiences.”

Many conservatives have taken aim at the idea of a “woke” agenda this year and have criticized issues relating to members of the LGBTQ+ and transgender community, such as seeking to stop transgender women from competing in female sports.

According to her executive order, these are the words Sanders banned in official government use and the words that should be used instead.

• Instead of using the terms “pregnant people” or “pregnant person,” Sanders calls for the use of the word, “pregnant mom.”
• Instead of the terms “chestfeeding,” “body fed” or “person fed,” use the terms “breastfeeding” or “breast fed.”
• Instead of the term “human milk,” the executive order requires the use of “breast milk.”
• Instead of the terms “birthing person” or “laboring person,” use the term, “birth mom.”
• Use the terms woman or women, instead of “menstruating person,” “menstruating people” or “birth-giver.”
• Instead of the terms “womxn” or “womyn,” use “woman.”

“All state offices, departments, boards, and commissions are prohibited from using exclusionary, sexist language in official state government business, effective immediately,” Sanders wrote in the executive order.

Many of the terms that Sanders banned in official state government use are focused on gender-neutral issues and can be used to refer to transgender or non-binary individuals. A poll commissioned by Newsweek and conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies this year found that 50 percent of Gen Z respondents opposed the use of “guys” to refer to both males and females in the workplace.

“There is an argument that the term ‘guys’ is gender-neutral,” Sacha Thompson, the founder of the inclusive consulting firm The Equity Equation, told Newsweek following the release of the poll in April. “However, let’s make a word switch. Would there be the same gender-neutral positioning if a mixed-gendered group was referred to as ‘gals’ or ‘ladies’? I’m sure some men would take offense.”

Newsweek was directed to Sanders’ press conference after reaching out to her office for comment.