Re: Sexist Language Revisited
From: "Prabhat N R" <prabhatr -at- aztec -dot- soft -dot- net>
Reply-To: "Prabhat N R" <prabhatr -at- aztec -dot- soft -dot- net>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Subject: Re: Sexist Language Revisited
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 04:19:33 -0600
<snip>
> With readers in mind and not our consciences, I think "he" is best but
> you could add a caveat in Welcome conventions noting the use of male
> pronoun as a language convention and not gender bias.
</snip>
I'm afraid such a disclaimer would be tantamount to a 'potential
perpetrator' seeking 'anticipatory bail' :)
<<Gururaj
Hey that was a humorous example, but what you say is right. Let me add more humor to your point. Why not use *she" in lieu of *he*? SHE contains HE:) This reminds of one more funny thing..On UNIX operating systems, you need to type *man cd* (for example) to view the online documentation for the cd command. If you type *man man*, the online document for the man page concept is displayed.
However, if you type *man woman* at the UNIX shell prompt, the following error message will be displayed:
"No manual entries are found for woman"
So, aren't the UNIX guys (makers of OS) supposed to give a caveat in their documentation?
Anyway, this link might be of use to you.
http://www.randomhouse.com/words/language/avoid_guide.html
Consider using plural forms, direct address, or passive voice (as
appropriate).
- Prabhat
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