Max Lambert and Melina Packer report on the language used to describe the effects of endocrine-disrupting contaminants on amphibians.  Much of the media attention on the effects of these pollutants fixates on reproduction consequences and often uses imprecise language.  Our use of language, even some scientific terminology, brings in cultural bias.  For instance, as Lambert and Packer remark “describing frogs (or any animal) as “feminized” or “demasculinized” is problematic at multiple levels. First, frogs are not feminine or masculine to begin with — those are human descriptions of the socially constructed human gender binary, not sex. …. When we project our anthropocentric assumptions onto amphibians, we might actually miss what’s good or bad for them.”  Since amphibians are undergoing a global crises, we must understand their biology objectively divorced from our cultural and historic biases.  De-gendering our language is a first step.

For the full article see: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/06/10/how-gendered-language-leads-scientists-astray/