Words are the most important tool in the service of a democratic government and its political system and they are often manipulated to make us feel, act, or vote a certain way; words are a means of controlling the public’s perception of government or political initiatives. For example, the Tax Simplification Act of 1993 ran [...]

Summary: this phrase “became popular about 25 years ago as an ostensibly inclusive way of referring to believers of all creeds and religions, about a decade after ‘people of color’ was revived as an inclusive term for nonwhites. The phrase was actually introduced out of a New-Agey aversion to identifying with organized religions, but it [...]

Summary: any of various indirect methods of forcing people to serve in the military, especially by extending the terms of people already in service” (Copy Editor). As recruiters scrambling to find troops have had to lower their enlistment requirements and add incentives, critics have labeled such coercive practices the drug/education/greencard or poverty draft. As of [...]

Summary: a term for what women confront when seeking church leadership roles, as in a headline from /The Catholic Voice, Diocese of Oakland/: “Catholic women debate whether to abandon struggle against ’stained glass ceiling.’”
For more information on the forthcoming Unspinning the Spin: The Women’s Media Center Guide to Accurate, Bias-Free Language, click here.