The Naked Truth About Inclusivity in Content

The color nude is racist.

If you write for the fashion industry or read fashion blogs or page through fashion magazines, you know “nude” is used to denote hues like peach, sand, taupe, beige and pale rose.

“Nude shoes were seen all over spring runways.”

But whose nude are we talking about?

The word references skin tone. Whose skin is peach, sand, taupe, beige or pale rose?

Ah.

As content marketers, we appreciate words’ power to tell stories, build community and drive positive action.

How often do we consider content’s flipside? Its potential to exclude, wound and “other” people?

If you’re me, the answer is “not often enough.”

Our Biased Conversational English

I had reason to think about the matter more deeply after attending “Inclusivity in Content,” a talk hosted last June at HUGE Agency in Brooklyn.

The evening brought together a fashion editor—Nancy Einhart, SVP of Content at POPSUGAR—and two information architects—Clair Rock and Sam Raddatz of Logic Department.

The event drove home two insights for me.

Everyday English is threaded with words that “other” people of color, LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities.

Most of us are clueless about our part in perpetuating the problem.

How Inclusive is Your Content?

It’s a prickly issue. No copywriter or editor consciously chooses words that hurt, stigmatize or disrespect people.

The usage goes under our cognitive radar. So it made me think…could my own content inadvertently be othering people?

With a twinge of dread, I took a look.

In their talk at HUGE Agency, information architect Clair Rock made a strong case for neutralizing language as a way of normalizing the existence of people in your audience. For me, shifting into neutral — a seemingly simple, but far-reaching, concept — came to be a litmus test for rethinking usage.

In addition to manning the presses—oops! In addition to publishing content here at marketcopywriterblog.com—I also work as a Copy Director in fashion ecommerce.

Like other niches, fashion copywriting has its own lingo. My snobby kids Some high-minded people find chatter about trends, “It” bags and fall must-haves vacuous and annoying.

Rude. Though it may not be War and Peace, fashion content doesn’t other and disrespect people, does it?

I’m afraid sometimes it does.

As I sieved through my own copy, I found a surprising number of questionable words and phrases.

And I came up with a handful of suggestions to help steer me around iffy word choices. I’d be grateful if you’d help me add to the list with your own recommendations.

10 Tips for Making Content More Inclusive

When considering inclusivity for the myriad kinds of content we create—editorial, email, ads, social updates, product descriptions, website and microcontent, brand decks, internal documents and much more—ecommerce and fashion content creators might want to…

1. Consider eliminating gendered product categories like “Boys” and “Girls” clothes, toys and books. This rigid division supports a binary that often results in shame and trauma to gender non-conforming kids.
2. Create non-gendered brand personas. Does your brand deck or other internal content include a gendered personification of your brand? Do you define brand DNA with a “Your Brand Woman” or “Your Brand Man”? Think about retiring them for a Persona, Muse, Spirit or Person.
3. Use they, them and theirs instead of he/she, him/her, and his/hers. Or talk directly—and intimately—to the customer, using you, your and yours.
4. Drop gendered references in fashion editorial and product copy: the “Fashion Girl,” the “French-girl style,” “borrowing from the boys.” Think about using more neutral words like “stylesetter,” “French,” “classically tailored.”
5. Create non-gendered sizing charts and find new ways to translate traditional “men’s” and “women’s” sizes. And when drafting the microcontent around sizing, make your goal normalizing, rather than othering.
6. Use models that look like people in your brand community. “People need to literally see themselves,” says Rock. This means using models in a range of body sizes, colors, gender identifications, ages and abilities. POPSUGAR uses their own staff as models. The cover of Vogue UK’s September 2019 edition—edited by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex—is graced by activist Sinéad Burke.
7. Find alternatives for words and phrases with racist roots. Don’t use “nude” when you mean taupe, sand, beige or pink. Rethink your metaphorical use of “black” and “white”—“black hat,” “white knight,” “black sheep,” “white lie.” The light = good, darkness = bad concept dates back to Aristotle. But today it’s hard to ignore its alignment with European privileging of lighter skin. Are there alternative metaphors?
8. Consider the ableist ramification of language. Lame. Crazy. Blind. Find other words.
9. Make inclusivity ongoing, not just part of a campaign or annual Pride, Mental Health or Black History month.
10. Consult industry pros and influencers who identify as LGBTQ+, POC and people with disabilities. This is the most important takeaway for me. Don’t count on white, cis-gendered people without disabilities to make the call on inclusive content.

Helpful Resources

My understanding of content’s power to include, affirm and support has been broadened and deepened by the following resources and people:

Reading

Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story by Jacob Tobia
The Everyday Language of White Racism by Jane H. Hill
Linguistic Racism
Fostering LGBTQ+ Inclusivity in Digital Spaces, Logic Department
Femme in Public by Alok Vaid-Menon
Nude: is the hot fashion colour racist? The Guardian
Disability-related terms with negative connotations, Wikipedia

Social
Sinéad Burke @thesineadburke
Jacob Tobia @jacobtobia
Alok Vaid-Menon @alokvmenon
Jordan Roth @jordan_roth
Elisa Goodkind and Lily Mandelbaum @StyleLikeU
Johnny Weir @johnnygweir

And you?

As a content creator, have you considered inclusivity in your work? Please share your thoughts and suggestions in comments.

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Image: The Birth of Venus by Alexandre Cabanel, courtesy of Wikimedia