I don’t see the point of pretending like this isn’t a gendered issue.
I wouldn’t argue that it’s not a gendered issue, or an issue impacted by gender, but I would argue that the test for whether or not you should gender something isn’t whether or not it predominantly effects one gender, but whether or not you can replace the gender specific term with a gender neutral one and still get the same point across.
In this specific context, feeling constantly on the verge of being overwhelmed because you have undiagnosed ADHD is something that everyone with undiagnosed ADHD suffers through, whether they’re men, women, or identify differently.
Or conversely, the majority of construction workers may identify as male, but it’s still problematic to talk about construction jobs or problems with the construction industry as if it’s a gendered issue that only men suffer with. If they were to talk about specific examples of say, male : male peer pressure, and male gender norm expectations that they were facing then it would make sense, but if they were just talking about something that every construction worker goes through then it would be a little odd and exclusionary to say something like “as a man, waking up for a 5am shift sucks”.
I wouldn’t argue that it’s not a gendered issue, or an issue impacted by gender, but I would argue that the test for whether or not you should gender something isn’t whether or not it predominantly effects one gender, but whether or not you can replace the gender specific term with a gender neutral one and still get the same point across.
In this specific context, feeling constantly on the verge of being overwhelmed because you have undiagnosed ADHD is something that everyone with undiagnosed ADHD suffers through, whether they’re men, women, or identify differently.
Or conversely, the majority of construction workers may identify as male, but it’s still problematic to talk about construction jobs or problems with the construction industry as if it’s a gendered issue that only men suffer with. If they were to talk about specific examples of say, male : male peer pressure, and male gender norm expectations that they were facing then it would make sense, but if they were just talking about something that every construction worker goes through then it would be a little odd and exclusionary to say something like “as a man, waking up for a 5am shift sucks”.