British Army discussing if masculine naming conventions should be gender-neutral
The head of the British Army has revealed how discussions are being held around gender-neutral naming conventions for currently masculine ranks and titles such as 'guardsman' or 'rifleman' in an effort to make the service more inclusive for women.
Chief of the General Staff (CGS) General Sir Patrick Sanders, speaking to Colonel Henry Llewelyn-Usher as a guest on the Centre for Army Leadership Podcast, said that the "masculine-coded" terms are "something we need to think about really carefully and really hard".
"I hear from a lot of women that these small things are the things that exclude – it's like saying blokes, or guys – it's coded masculine language," he said.
Women in the Army often find themselves in male-ranking conventions – such as guardsman, kingsman and craftsman – with no female or gender-neutral alternative.
"There is no getting away from it, that rifleman and guardsman, is a masculine-coded appointment and title and identity.
"We know that at the moment, the experience of women in our Army is not what it should be – most of them love it, but there's still not enough of what we want to see," he added.
Calls have been made for the Army to review its ranking system, as some roles have no female or gender-neutral alternative.
At the same time, Sir Patrick acknowledges there are women within the Army who are fiercely proud of their masculine-coded rank, and mentioned one female section commander who discussed her military experiences during a Servicewomen's Network meeting, but ended by saying: "Be really clear, don't you dare take this rank away from me, because I am proud to be a rifleman. That's my rank as much as it is yours."
Both the RAF and Royal Navy have made steps towards more inclusive language in recent years.
In 2021, the RAF dropped the terms 'airman' and 'airwoman' in favour of 'aviator'.
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