Diversity Thursday

They will come after everyone.

When no hill is worth dying on, eventually your enemy has all the high ground and you are surrounded.

You can turn your head to the diversity industry and pretend you are not interested in them ... but make no mistake ... that just makes them more interested in you.

They will come after everyone ... and everything;

Ella Tennant, from Keele University’s Language Centre, said referring to ships as “she” is an example of how language shapes the way we see the world. There is “power and authority” in labelling, she says, and once that label is attached, “we have our own assumptions and preconceptions of what it is when we see that object”.

From a feminist language perspective, she adds, labelling ships, countries, and other inanimate things as female could be interpreted as “perpetuating the patriarchal view”, and as “slightly derogatory and patronising”.
...
David Mann, director of the Scottish Maritime Museum, said the decision to drop “she” for “it” was taken after two signs were vandalised. “The debate around gender and ships is wide-ranging, pitting tradition against the modern world. But I think that we have to move with the times,” he said.

Lloyds List, the 285-year-old daily maritime bible, abandoned “she” for “it” almost 20 years ago. Richard Meade, its editor, said the decision was made to bring the paper “in line with most other reputable international business titles and referring to ships as she seemed anachronistic”.

The battle is already well afoot.