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Subject:Re: Usage: Gender bias (essay) From:"Janet K. Christian" <janetc -at- AUSTIN -dot- APPLE -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 7 Aug 1995 08:17:19 +0100
>We could rest easy if English had provided a suitable, pleasant-sounding
>word that could serve as a generic "he or she/his or her" replacement, but
>that is not the case. And I don't think it will ever happen. English isn't
>built that way. Neither are men and women. The Enlightenment has happened:
>women are individuals with an X and Y chromosome; men are individuals with
>two X chromosomes. And except for bizarre genetic mutations, ne'er the two
>shall blend in one body
But English *is* built that way. We create new words all the time to update
the language to current needs/trends. Take an old (pre 1940s) dictionary
and try to look up: microchip, RAM, gay, hacker, and net.
I agree with the person (sorry, I don't remember the name) who suggested
that the STC (or whoever) determine a new, gender-neutral, singular
pronoun. Common usage in writing, with a brief note in the Preface, will
lead to audience acceptance and in less time than one/you/he/she/it might
think.
