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Subject:he/she From:"Robert E. Garland" <robert -at- jtan -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com Date:Wed, 24 Nov 1999 19:55:58 -0500 (EST)
OK, so he is correct English, and she is often politically correct.
The best solution I ever saw to this dilemna was in an after-market
computer book, title forgotten. The author used he in odd chapters and
she in even chapters, or maybe it was the other way around.
As a reader, it would be nice to have the entire document stick to one
or the other, but this author had a solution that worked for (his? her?)
audience. You may notice that I no longer remember the gender of the
author. I have also seen works where the gender in each paragraph was
selected at random. Perhaps the dictum "know your audience" applies
here, but IT is one area where women are well represented. Use of
either he or she to the exclusion of the other will get you in trouble.
Anyone have a solution to this one? Yes, "the user" can get old
quickly.
--
Robert Garland Amateur Radio Station NX3S
Hilltown Township Bucks County Grid FN20ii
Pennsylvania USA robert -at- jtan -dot- com
