Moana: “Maui! Shape shifter, demogod of the wind and sea, I am Moana.”
Maui: “Hero of men.. It’s actually “shape shifter, demogod of the wind and sea, hero of men”… sorry sorry sorry and Women. Men and Women. Both, all..not a guy girl thing eh.. Maui is a hero to all!”
Just yesterday I went to see Disney’s Moana. I was super excited because Disney has been on a roll lately. Every movie I’ve seen since Frozen has attempted to break the stereotypical gender roles that have been seen throughout every princess movie, ever. Each movie I’ve seen has gotten a little better at becoming a representation of the world we are living in now. Moana, of course, didn’t disappoint. She was a strong, courageous leader. However, that wasn’t the highlight of the movie that left me smiling from ear to ear. It was the conversation you read in the beginning of this article.
Within that two part conversation Maui shows us what Gender Inclusive language looks like. As you can see, it wasn’t perfect and that’s exactly what I think makes that interaction perfect. It’s so easy for us to just include men in women in our speech when in fact we live in a colorful world where everyone deserves to be represented.
Over the past 2 years I have met some amazing people who opened my sheltered eyes to see just how colorful life is. With that, they taught me about the use of pronouns and gender inclusive language. There aren’t just boys and girls here, just like there isn’t just White or just Black. And if each of us took the time to recognize that and then inform someone else we would be one step closer to painting a vibrant picture.
It might seem difficult, but you’ll be surprised by how simple it actually is. Starting somewhere small like replacing “you guys” with “you all” or “y’all” is a good place to start. From there, I would suggest looking up pronouns and other types of inclusive language. If Disney can do it, so can we.