Good for the goose, good for the gander

I've always liked that expression because it reflects the moral consistency or intellectual honesty I value so highly. As loyal readers will already know... that I hate hypocrisy (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here... well you get the point). While gender is explicitly mentioned in this expression (and it was with regard to gender distinctions first I first heard it used), the underlying principle is not limited to gender. I remember confronting people when they made statements like: the woman doctor or the black cop, and pointing out that they wouldn't have said: the male doctor or the white cop, so why the inconsistency?

CathiefromCanada addresses this issue here and I invite you to have a look at what she sees as the creeping racism in the expressions that are becoming commonplace. She cites an example where some of those arrested as alleged terrorists were referred to as being "Canadian-born".

I was born here too. And I always thought of myself as Canadian, not just "Canadian-born".

But if the term "Canadian-born" is to be used to denigrate those terrorist suspects and turn them into second-class citizens then I have no choice -- I'll just have to adopt it for myself, too.

"I am Canadian-born" doesn't have quite the crispness and style needed for a beer commercial, but I suppose we'll get used to it.