Woke too far? UK University bans terms ‘Christian name’ and ‘Surname’

The University of Kent has made headlines today with the release of their ‘advice’ to students—their guidelines on the use of acceptable language.

The University says they are trying to create an inclusive environment for their diverse student body, so the term ‘Christian name’ should be avoided; ‘surname’ (sire name or father’s name) should be replaced with ‘family name’ and other gendered terms like ‘man the phones’ should be changed to ‘attend the phones.’

The words ‘mother’ and ‘father’ are instead replaced by ‘parents’ or ‘caregivers’ in order to recognise diverse family groups. Along the same lines are the recent woke suggestions to replace the word ‘woman” with ‘egg-producing’ or ‘XX individual.’

The so-called ‘woke movement’ is seen to be steadily suggesting language that certain groups in society might find offensive. Women may find ‘mankind’ a patriarchal term. Muslims and people of other faiths may feel marginalised with the common use of Christian terms like Easter, Lent etc. Christian groups are responding by stating that the moral and spiritual foundations of Western civilisation have been provided by Christianity, whether you happen to be a person of faith or not, it is factual history.

Wokeism is defined by Collins dictionary as: ‘the behaviour and attitudes of people who are sensitive to social and political injustice.’  Another source defines wokeism as: ‘weaponised personal grievances masquerading as genuine social concern.’

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