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I've found that it's usually possible in technical documentation to
avoid the gender issue altogether by using gerunds.
LIke this:
Selecting (clicking, double-clicking, kissing and hugging) the X
button (or whatever) enables (permits, allows, totally obliterates
any
possibility of) verb+ing the Web browser (or whatever).
Though this usage may have somewhat of a "drying" affect on the
style (not
necessarily a bad thing), I find it preferable to he/she, or s(he),
or any
other of the gender-bending solutions I've come across on this list
or
elsewhere.
Hal Wrobel
TopTier - Israel
hwrobel -at- toptier -dot- com
> -----Original Message-----
> From: M. Giffin [SMTP:mgiffin -at- earthlink -dot- net]
> Sent: Thursday, November 25, 1999 2:34 AM
> To: TECHWR-L
> Subject: Re: he/she
>
M. Giffin wrote:
> Use "he or she" once or twice near the beginning of the document to
> publicly identify yourself as someone who is aware that there are males
> and
> females in the world, then....
> ---
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