Lawmakers Working Tirelessly at Wasting Time

The state of Washington is hard at work after passing an initiative to proactively remove gender bias from its existing statutes.  Among the changes being worked in the state's laws are the following:

1. Penmanship to Handwriting
2. Fisherman to Fisher
3. Freshman to First Year Student
4. Journeyman Plumber to Journey-Level Plumber
5. Signalman to Signal Operator

A Reuters article regarding the removal of gender bias from state laws notes that certain words, including "airman" and "seaman" will not be changed due to objections from the Washington Military Department.  While the article does not specify what those objections are, it is safe to assume that they are somewhere along the lines of, "This is a ridiculous waste of time and resources.  No one freaking cares."

Of course, someone did care, namely state Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, the bill's sponsor.  Did anyone else?  Well, it's hard to say.  No one wants to be that guy (or gal, but especially guy) who is standing up to argue against something like this.  It's like asking a politician to vote no on the "Save our Children Act" or the "Stop People from Beating Up Animals Act."  The real value gets obscured by the need for a politically practical response.

As a woman, I could not care less about things like this, partly because I am a grownup and just have other things to which I devote my time and partly because it really does not matter.  First of all, how many people read their state statutes?  I am an attorney, so I have read quite a few, but I am willing to bet the average person has read little to none of his (or her, lest I offend!) state laws.  But I suppose we are to believe that the use of the word "freshman" or "penmanship" is somehow damaging these frail psyches.  

Second, the only time that this stuff matters is when the law says things like, "It shall be unlawful for a woman to operate a motor vehicle on Sunday."  If the law itself creates separate rules for separate groups of people, whether it is based on gender, race, or any other factor, then we've got a problem. 

Moreover, the dictionary definition of "man" includes the following: "a member of the species Homo sapiens or all the members of this species collectively without regard to sex" (emphasis added).  Wait a second...so if we rely on something silly like the meaning of words in our language, these statutes are already gender neutral.  

Leave it to a government entity to find a way to spend millions of dollars and a ton of resources to do something that is already done.

(Originally published on April 26, 2013)

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