On avoiding gender bias?

["Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

Anila reports: <<I have often read that one should avoid gender bias in
writing. This would imply the avoidance of "he" and "she".>>

Yup. Check the archives for details; we've discussed this topic at great
length over the years. (Look under "gender neutral".) It's an important
issue because more than 50% of a general audience is female, and because
many women (including many on this list) have confirmed for me that it's not
a trivial issue to them. Moreover, gender-specific writing is often passive
and weak compared with a suitably dynamic gender-neutral version.

<<I have also read that the usage of "he/she" is not really acceptable.>>

Nope. It's awkward, takes up unnecessary space, and rubs the reader's nose
in how sensitive you're trying to be. Moreover, it's a more difficult
solution than several better solutions. You'll also not find many editors
who'll accept it, and if your writing will be edited, you might as well save
both of you the trouble of having to fix it.

<<"The team member who uses this tool will be given the required guidance
whenever he/she........">>

You can almost always avoid this structure and create shorter, more direct
sentences by pluralizing the subject: "Team members who use.. whenever
they..." You can also get rid of "be given" by specifying the actor, which
is important in this case: "Anila will give team members..." (if not a
person, name the role: "The network administrator will...")

<<But this may not be possible in all cases, especially when you intend to
refer to only ONE person. Another way could be by using the neutral "one".
One who uses this tool will be given the required guidance whenever one
......".>>

It's almost never the case that you can't pluralize; documentation is
generally written for more than one customer, so even if only one person per
customer gets to do a task, it's still appropriate to speak of "users"
(plural). Where you absolutely have to emphasize a singular user, there are
lots of workarounds: "The person who will do this task should... Give _them_
the key... [etc.]" Note that although "one" is acceptable English, it's more
often used in British English than in international English, and even there,
is gradually becoming an archaic usage. "They" and "them" are perfectly
acceptable singular pronouns, despite a few detractors, and there's no
reason why you can't use them <ahem> instead.

<<I wonder whether it is ALWAYS possible to remain gender neutral and at the
same time, not sound strange.>>

Yup. I've yet to encounter a situation that couldn't be easily and elegantly
reworded in neutral voice, with one exception: where the sex of the actor is
important, then you must obviously use gender-specific pronouns. (But in
most technical writing, that situation doesn't arise.) One of the best
solutions in general is to speak directly to the reader ("you"). For
example:

<<Anyone who wishes to avail of this facility should bring his ID card...>>

Rewrite as: "If you want to use this facility, bring your ID card." (if
you're talking to the person who will use the facility) or "Anyone who asks
your permission to use this facility must bring their ID card" (if you're
talking to the person administering the facility and deciding whether to let
someone use it).

--Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
"User's advocate" online monthly at
www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/usersadvocate.html

"Genders? We doan need no steenkeen' genders!" (with apologies to Ursula
LeGuin and Sergio Leone <g>)


 

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