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>It all has to do with intent and context. In the case of being told "girls
>shouldn't be doing X", yes, that's sexist. In the case of "the user
>shouldn't bathe in the reactor cooling bin because he will probably die" is
>not sexist. It may not be appropriate, as the user may be a woman, but it's
>not sexist.
Geoff Hart makes the excellent argument that, whether or not you-the-writer
perceive your use of male pronouns to be sexist, you have to be aware that
up to 25% of your users will perceive your use of male pronouns to be
sexist/offensive... which is so good an argument I wouldn't have thought
anyone could disagree with it, though I'm sure someone will! <g>
But further, to write as if all your users are male (unless you can know for
certain that 99.99% of them are and always will be, for example if you're
selling male contraceptive pills or jockstraps) is sloppy and imprecise. Why
write: "the user shouldn't bathe in the reactor cooling bin because he will
probably die" when you can write: "Users must not bathe in the reactor
cooling bin, because they will probably die" or "Any user bathing in the
reactor cooling bin will probably die" or "Reactor cooling bin: No Bathing!
This means YOU!" (Alternatively: "Reactor cooling bin. If you want to win
this year's Darwin Awards, please jump in.")
Jane Carnall
Journeying Android Networked for Exploration: Cybernetic Artificial
Replicant Normally for Assassination and Logical Learning
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