Gender-inclusive writing for epidemiological research on pregnancy

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorRioux, Charlie
dc.contributor.authorWeedon, Scott
dc.contributor.authorLondon-Nadeau, Kira
dc.contributor.authorParé, Ash
dc.contributor.authorJuster, Robert Paul
dc.contributor.authorRoos, Leslie
dc.contributor.authorFreeman, Makayla
dc.contributor.authorTomfohr-Madsen, Lianne
dc.date.accessioned2022-06-30T14:48:10Z
dc.date.available2022-06-30T14:48:10Z
dc.date.issued2022-06-20
dc.date.submitted2022-06-30T00:54:18Zen_US
dc.description.abstractPeople who have a uterus but are not cisgender women may carry pregnancies. Unfortunately to date, academic language surrounding pregnancy remains largely (cis )woman-centric. The exclusion of gender-diverse people in the language of pregnancy research in English is pervasive. In reviewing a random sample of 500 recent articles on pregnancy or pregnant populations across health research fields, we found that only 1.2% of articles used gender-inclusive language (none of them in epidemiology), while the remaining 98.8% used (cis )woman-centric language. First and foremost, recent recommendations highlight the need to include trans, non-binary and gender-diverse people in study design. Meanwhile, there remains a lack of awareness that all research on pregnancy can contribute to inclusiveness, including in dissemination and retroactive description. We explain how the ubiquitous use of (cis )woman-centric language in pregnancy-related research contributes to (1) the erasure of gender diversity; (2) inaccurate scientific communication; and (3) negative societal impacts, such as perpetuating the use of exclusionary language by students, practitioners, clinicians, policymakers, and the media. We follow with recommendations for gender-inclusive language in every section (i.e., introductions, methods, results, discussions) of epidemiological articles on pregnant populations. The erasure of gender-diverse people in the rhetoric of research about pregnant people can be addressed immediately, including in the dissemination of results from ongoing studies that did not take gender diversity into consideration. This makes gender-inclusive language a crucial first step towards the inclusion of gender-diverse people in epidemiological research on pregnant people and other health research more globally.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipFonds de Recherche en Santé - Québec Research Manitoba Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Programen_US
dc.identifier.doi10.1136/jech-2022-219172
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1993/36579
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherBMJen_US
dc.rightsopen accessen_US
dc.subjectobstetricsen_US
dc.subjectwomen’s healthen_US
dc.subjectreproductive healthen_US
dc.subjectreproductionen_US
dc.subjecttransgenderen_US
dc.subjectsexual and gender minoritiesen_US
dc.subjectgender identityen_US
dc.subjectLGBTen_US
dc.subjectrhetoricen_US
dc.subjectwritingen_US
dc.titleGender-inclusive writing for epidemiological research on pregnancyen_US
dc.typepreprinten_US
local.author.affiliationFaculty of Arts::Department of Psychologyen_US
oaire.awardNumbern/aen_US
oaire.awardTitlePostdoctoral fellowshipen_US
oaire.awardURIn/aen_US
oaire.citation.titleJournal of Epidemiology & Community Healthen_US
project.funder.identifierhttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100000024en_US
project.funder.nameCanadian Institutes of Health Researchen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Thumbnail Image
Name:
_Rioux2022_GenderInclusiveWriting_OA.pdf
Size:
162.17 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Main article
Download
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Supplemental materials_Gender language review_final.pdf
Size:
118.19 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Supplemental materials
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
2.24 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed to upon submission
Description:
Download
Collections
University of Manitoba Scholarship
Faculty of Arts Scholarly Works