Gendered words ban: US city's code replaces ‘manpower’ with ‘human effort’

A city council in California has voted in favour of replacing gendered language with neutral terms in its municipal code. Changes to Berkeley City Council's code were passed unanimously in a vote on Tuesday.
The code will drop masculine words such as "manhole" and "manpower" in favour of non-gendered terms like "maintenance hole" and "human effort".

The third-person plural pronoun "they" will be used instead of "he" and "she".
In the US, a municipal code is a collection of ordinances, or laws, passed by a local governing body.
City councillor Rigel Robinson, who spearheaded the proposal, told the BBC that the masculine terms in the code were "inaccurate and not reflective of our reality".
"Women and non-binary individuals are just as entitled to accurate representation. Our laws are for everyone, and our municipal code should reflect that."
Mr Robinson, 23, is the youngest council member in the city's history.
He said the ordinance, which was adopted on its first reading, is important because "there's power in language".
"This is a small move, but it matters," he said, noting the unanimous vote "was not controversial".