Federal agency: No such thing as female, male connectors

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By CASEY HARPER

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, a federal and science technology office, has made race and gender speech codes for its scientists a top priority.

The guidance tells federal employees not to use the words “blacklist” or “whitelist” because of the racial connotations. It cautions against “using terms that assign a gender to inanimate objects, such as male/female connectors.”

The NIST is a little-known government agency tasked with helping the U.S., among other things, stay technologically ahead of rivals like China. Congress appropriated about $1.65 billion for the group for 2023.

Lawmakers recently hammered the Pentagon for investing heavily in critical race theory and gender ideology. The National Institutes of Health has done so as well, along with other agencies.  

The NIST is one of many federal agencies putting its attention and taxpayer funds into these efforts as it struggles to keep pace with its key mission. The NIST sparked controversy for its “Inclusive Language Guidance,” which tells scientists which words or phrases they can or cannot use in reports.

From the document:

– Consider that biased terms, such as blacklist/whitelist, also may introduce comprehension issues.

– Avoid terms such as master/slave that perpetuate negative stereotypes or unequal power relationships.

– Avoid identifying an individual’s gender unless necessary for comprehension, or using terms that assign a gender to inanimate objects, such as male/female connectors.

– Avoid descriptive terms that are condescending or reductive in favor of language that the groups being described would prefer.

Steven Lipner, chair of the Congressionally authorized Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board, sent a letter to NIST in 2020 recommending the whitelist and blacklist changes as well as the changes for master and slave usage.

“Many technology and security standards contain racially insensitive language that is both offensive to many of our colleagues and is also, in many respects, ambiguous – technically and culturally,” the letter said. “Examples of such language include using the terms blacklist and whitelist instead of block-list and allow-list and using the terms master and slave.”

Jennifer Huergo, a spokesperson for NIST, told The Center Square the guidance “was created primarily for the benefit of NIST staff experts who participate in the development of documentary standards as expert collaborators and leaders.”

“Use of inclusive language helps to avoid potential gaps in understanding that could arise from the use of colloquial or idiomatic expressions that are rooted in particular historical events or regional dialects,” she said. 

The NIST’s DEI office also promotes liberal ideas around gender and sexuality. The DEI staff page features the preferred pronouns of its employees as the first priority in the bios.

The issue has regularly been thrust into the forefront because while Americans are largely split on the debate over gender identity and critical race theory, federal agencies have largely embraced it and put millions of taxpayer dollars behind it.

A Pew Research report released last summer found that while most Americans say there is discrimination against transgender people, “60% say a person’s gender is determined by their sex assigned at birth, up from 56% in 2021 and 54% in 2017.”

The NIST speech code also links to the American Psychological Association’s webpage on “biased language,” which goes on at length about the myriad of possible genders, and the need to cater to them.

“Transgender is used as an adjective to refer to persons whose gender identity, expression, and/or role does not conform to what is culturally associated with their sex assigned at birth,” APA says. “Some transgender people hold a binary gender, such as man or woman, but others have a gender outside of this binary, such as gender-fluid or nonbinary. Individuals whose gender varies from presumptions based on their sex assigned at birth may use terms other than ‘transgender’ to describe their gender, including ‘gender-nonconforming,’ ‘genderqueer,’ ‘gender-nonbinary,’ ‘gender-creative,’ ‘agender,’ or ‘two-spirit,’ to name a few.”

40 COMMENTS

    • Actually, looking at the definition of the word pervert in Webster’s Second Edition Unabridged Dictionary there is now no part of that definition that doesn’t have some special protection in the law! I would guess that using the word pervert will get you on the TSA no-fly list.

  1. Well we are almost down to androgenous moose…..

    I guess that taking a moose of any sex will have to be permitted since gendering them might offend someone….

  2. Will an extension cord now have a “ birther end “ and a non-birther end”?
    Going to have to retrain every single electrician.
    This is what happens when there are to many employees and not enough to do= to much free time.

  3. A male and female plug can now be politically correctly referred to as a penis and vagina connection. It’s more accurate anyway.

    • Micha, you are right. However, the standard problem with humanity is we all expect the word “we” to mean everyone else except ourselves.

  4. My truck has a hydraulic clutch, to operate it you have to have a master cylinder, and a slave cylinder, I will call them that when I need to replace them, regardless of who I offend at the Auto parts store and I will smile when I ask for them.

    • Amen. I refuse to even acknowledge this absurdity. The tiny deranged deluded minority that are pushing this insanity can continue with their histrionical flapping. I will continue to use all biologically correct pronouns, logical technical and mechanical references, and facts. Do not bow to the wacky wokey narrative.

  5. Commenters say they will adhere to using the now banned terms. However, they will pay taxes for their government to spend millions to change documents and force all involved to change their usage.

    • Pretty much forced to pay taxes. What happens if we all walk into our jobs and inform our employers we no longer want taxes deducted from our paychecks? I’d read an article on how to make that work!

  6. Next they will tell you that preferring the lights to be turned on is a form of white supremacy. Do you have something against the dark? That is just a social construct from the white supremacy patriarchal society.

  7. No more “motherboard?” When are they going to demand an update for our spell check?

  8. Orwell would be shocked.
    .
    Seriously, it is absolutely ridiculous that society as a whole has to change because a small minority of people might be offended be the use of a word. The male plug goes into the female receptacle. If you have a problem with that, it is on you. Either grow up, or go hide in the basement.
    .
    Really, this is nothing by the school yard bully writ large. Crybullying to exert power that you have not earned.

  9. Would love to see a list of all of these obscure boards, institutes and three and four letter “agencies we are paying for with zero benefit to anyone or anything.

  10. 1.65 billion for this foolishness from a group of bureaucrats that nobody has even heard of? Fraud waste and abuse is so off the chain that nobody even questions it anymore.

  11. My computer’s hard drives (oh, oops, did they miss one?) has a master drive and slave drives. Is that going to hurt the feelings of my computer? That might be next at this rate.

  12. Honestly, we all have to work hard to at least banish this mentality from Alaska. We have to elect people who have common sense and focus on a government that does a good job with roads, schools, public safety, and not much else. The Democrats will run every square inch of our lives if we allow it; and God help us we seem prone to allow it.

    • Well your cause has lost ANC, where half of Alaskan’s live.
      Not looking good, as AK loses workers and the unproductive hang around.

  13. So now, we rise and Say NO TO ALL OF IT! Ignore it! Men in the working world know these terms back and front. There is a male or female end. Gizinta-Gizunta. Period. Seriously do we give a rats behind what the feds say? They are corrupt as it gets and in bed with the LGBTQ. They cannot stand the fact that the truth is, there are two genders. Male. Female. Nothing in between.
    Like I said, fight it, say NO. continue on as we have for decades!

  14. I sure hope the collapse of society was worth it to defeat Trump.

    Orange Man may have been rude, lacked self control, and made mean tweets, but only hard core leftists were trying to rewrite biology and common sense.

    Since Orange Man was so awful, the voters give society to the mentally ill and morally bankrupt.

    Glad I’m old.

  15. One’s the pole that goes into the hole.
    The other is the hole that receives the pole.
    Learned that in 3rd grade, but not in school, at the bus stop.

  16. So when are these idiots going to outlaw Spanish? The whole language is based on male female terms. Sorry invaders but you won’t be allowed to speak Spanish anymore because it’s sexist.

  17. So when are these idiots going to outlaw Spanish? The whole language is based on male female terms. Sorry invaders but you won’t be allowed to speak Spanish anymore because it’s sexist. I guess you can learn English, but I would rather see you deported.

  18. So a clutch master cylinder and slave cylinder no longer exist just because someone is offended. Good luck changing gears. Male and female fittings and electrical connectors are a fact of life no matter what someone feels like. There is no good end result to all this madness, only destruction and pain.

  19. All the folks saying this is not right-You can’t see this blatant sexual indoctrination? But, but, but, it’s been that way forever and our sexual indoctrination is ok but not everyone else’s.

    • No, you’re crazy. You think calling the male end of a plug, pipe, or cord a an celebration of rape culture. Lol

      Btw, how that proxy war in Ukraine going? Still a diehard?

  20. Well, at least Kings and Studs in framing will remain longer than Cripples, trimmers, and Queens, the way God intended it.

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