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Subject:The Gender Issue (PC) From:David Harrison <david-x -dot- harrison -at- BAE -dot- CO -dot- UK> Date:Mon, 18 Jan 1999 08:29:24 +0000
One matter has always interested me about our current trend to avoid gender in
these politically correct times. English (UK and US) is blessed with the magic
words "the" and "a" which have no gender issues except by implication (indeed it
is that very implication that lies behind the issue to start with). On the
other hand, many European languages have masculine, feminine and, sometimes,
neuter genders,-- do you French, German, Italian (et cetera) writers live
with the genders as part of your language? Or do you also have a similar
challenge to be politically correct and avoid trying to fight it? Do you resort
to other tricks (such as always writing in plural) to comply with the issue?
David Harrison
(david-x -dot- harrison -at- bae -dot- co -dot- uk)
