The Words Ladies And Gentlemen, Boys And Girls Are A No No.

[anotheoldgit]

First London mayor Sadiq Khan wants to scrap the words' ladies and gentlemen'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4014682/London-mayor-Sadiq-Khan-wants-scrap-ladies-gentlemen-buses-tubes-favour-gender-neutral-announcements.html

and now the schools are told the words 'boys and girls' are damaging.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4020872/Stop-calling-boys-girls-Advisers-paid-200k-help-train-teachers-claim-using-sex-specific-classrooms-unfair-transgenders.html

[sp1814]

AOG

You wrote:

"First London mayor Sadiq Khan wants to scrap the words' ladies and gentlemen'"

That's a little bit of common sense, don't you think?

"Passengers travelling on the Northern Line are advised that the escalators at Angel Station are not in operation"

"Ladies and gentlemen travelling on the Northern Line are advised that the escalators at Angel Station are not in operation"

Which sounds odd, the first or second announcement?

[anneasquith]

S khan. Had a complaint, trying to address it, ( doing his job ) no win situation for him because a) he's Muslim b) he's Labour .

[sp1814]

anneasquith

Yup.

Par for the course.

[tamborine]

Muslims & infidels....?

[hereIam]

ONE complaint ???

[anotheoldgit]

sp1814

All dependant in what text it is given.

Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen, we wish to announce that the 10-14 to Islington is running 5 minutes late.

or

Good morning passengers, we wish to announce that the 10-15 to Islington is running 5 minutes late.

[Gromit]

I am sure Khan is getting all the stick because he is Labour and Asian.

But the guidance to schools was commissioned byTory Cabinet Minister Nicky Piper.

I am sure it is just an oversight that those condemning Khan have forgotten to condemn the Tory Minister also.

[anneasquith]

But gromit, then there would be no point in the post.:-))

[mushroom25]

//..."the escalators at Angel Station are not in operation" //

probably because of this guy - only a Norwegian.... :-)

[anotheoldgit]

/// claims she was told she ‘didn’t sound like a miss’ ///

And for that, the Mayor of London made a personal apology and Transport for London had launched an investigation into the incident.

/// TfL's approach is centred on treating everyone equally, ///

Some more equal than others it would seem.

[Orderlimit]

The Tory minister has been mentioned in the one report and Khan in the other. No win situation for those trying to debate the subjects as a) potentially accused of some sort of Islamophobia and, b) some sort of racism

Or just claim the DM has made it all up

[THECORBYLOON]

If you had a feminine sounding voice ANOTHEOLDGIT, would you not object to having your gender questioned based on what like you sound?

[anneasquith]

Do any of us know what AOG sounds like ? :-)

[Gromit]

// And for that, the Mayor of London made a PERSONAL apology. Some more equal than others it would seem. //

The facts as I have read them are: The Mayor was hosting a Question Time event, and a London Authority represenative who was a member of the Green Party brought up the phone call incident. Khan apologised on behalf of TfL and promised to investigate.

That was the appropriate response.

[sp1814]

AOG

A well-thought out response, but I travel on the tube all the time - and announcers normally refer to passengers as passengers.

In fact, I don't know why Mayor Khan has even brought that point up.

And no announcer would ever refer to a train going 'to Islington'. It would be Upper Holloway, Angel or Holloway Road. There is no 'Islington Station'.

[sp1814]

"Some more equal than others it would seem."

Nope. It really wouldn't 'seem' at all.

If you went to the papers because a member of TfL staff had used a pejorative term to refer to elderly people (for example), you too would find that the upper echelons would dive in to limit the damage.

And don't be fooled by the term 'launching an investigation'. That's corporate-speak for 'someone contacting the call centre, finding out who took the call and given them a verbal warning'.

[Mamyalynne]

Issue 1

The phone call incident was unprofessional and training should be made to ensure no repeat of that.


Issue 2

Addressing passengers as passengers, fine.

Addressing a class of children as children, also fine.

[jno]

in announcements off the train they're often referred to as customers rather than passengers, which I find annoying, as if management are trying to distance themselves from any obligation to get them anywhere, their job is just to sell tickets. However, I cope, the world goes on.

As for this particular case, the objectionable thing was telling a stranger she "didn't sound like a miss": personal comments like that do deserve an apology.

[Gromit]

Some Ladies enjoying London's Transport system :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7fP27hFe7U

[vetuste_ennemi]

Issue 3

Gender is a biological fact and training should be made to ensure this fact is ignored, obfuscated or denied.