World-renowned arts Uni goes woke on gender

One of the world’s leading places to study art has adopted the use of woke ‘gender-neutral’ language in staff guidance.

University of Arts London (UAL) has ‘cancelled’ the word “woman” and “mother” in policies on menstruation and maternity leave and claims the guidance can apply to anyone “regardless of their gender identity”.

UAL was recently ranked second in the world for art and design by QS World University Rankings.

Absent ‘women’

UAL’s document on menopause, published online by think tank Policy Exchange, states that the “fully inclusive guidance” is designed to assist “people in the workplace” affected by “menopausal symptoms”.

It explains: “Menopause is a natural stage of life, usually occurring between the ages of 45 and 55 as a person’s estrogen levels decline and they stop having periods.”

“UAL recognise that menopause may also be experienced by colleagues who do not identify as female, so this guidance and support content is intended to support anyone experiencing menopause, regardless of their gender identity.”

Throughout the guidance, words such as “individuals”, “people” and “staff” are consistently used, while “women” occurs but once in the main body of text when citing “direct language” from an external source.

Only women experience the menopause and only women can become mothers. Universities are supposed to be seats of learning, not spreaders of disinformation. Mrs Miriam Cates MP

Missing ‘mother’

The university’s ‘Equal Parental Leave Policy: Maternity’ policy – again exposed by Policy Exchange – says it applies to “LGBTQ+ people, same sex couples, same gender couples and those involved in surrogacy arrangements”.

And ‘expectant parent’, one of the main terms used in the guidance, is defined as the “biological (birth) parent” who UAL claims can “be of any gender”. The word “mother” is absent from the 12-page document.

Policy Exchange’s Lottie Moore said: “The removal of language relating to female biology within UAL staff policies is yet another example of where gender-identity beliefs are taking precedence above all else, including scientific fact.

“Language matters, as does biology, and it is important that such examples are exposed. This latest publication reveals new examples of how gender identity beliefs are being adopted in the public sphere in the absence of public consent”.

Gender badge menu

EasyJet has been accused of “pointless posturing” by Sir John Hayes MP after it introduced gender pronoun badges for staff.

In the name of ‘inclusivity’, staff may select their preferred pronouns from an approved list of 25 options, including ze/zir/zirs, xe/xem/xyrs and xier/xies/dier.