Defending Moms

April 25th, 2013

The March/April BAM was another great issue, but I was offended by one of your story captions (“No Praying from the Podium”). As part of the great article on alumni working at the U.S. Department of State, Victoria Nuland is described as explaining “complex foreign policy in language your mother will understand.” I would like to encourage the BAM to try not to use gendered language to imply traits such as lack of intellect. I don’t think the caption would have read “explains complex foreign policy in language your father will understand.” I am sure that no offense was intended by this caption, and I understand that I might be more sensitive to these issues than others. I just wanted to alert you to this so that the BAM can keep it in mind for the future. Thank you.

Michelle Osterman ’06
Ann Arbor, Mich.

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Related Issue
May/June 2013