What is sexist language? It is inherently discriminatory language, either written or spoken, that implies an unjustified sexual bias against a group or an individual, usually women, but sometimes men. The identification of sexist language and the need for a change to nonsexist forms have long been topics of controversy. In this article we review the history of the debate as well as the evidence that this form of discriminatory language causes harm. The latter point is important, since the whole question is often dismissed as insignificant. The relevance of the issue to scientific and, particularly, medical writing is explored. Finally, a survey of journal writing is presented to help answer first, the question of how much of a problem still exists, and second, if so, what recommendations are needed to ameliorate it.