A person who has trouble constructing a vehicle with his bare hands should read the instruction manual. If he is still unable to construct the vehicle he should call his physician. His physician will tell him that he much far more intelligent than his female counterparts, so he shouldn't feel bad.
OH NO! THAT'S SEXIST! YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE USED GENDER SPECIFIC PRONOUNS LIKE THAT! DO YOU HATE WOMEN? YOU MUST BECAUSE YOU ARE A MAN AND YOU USED MALE PRONOUNS! YOU ARE A TERRIBLE SEXIST PERSON! THIS IS HOW YOU SHOULD HAVE WORDED IT TO AVOID GENDER SPECIFIC PRONOUNS!
Wow, that was crazy. You know, recently there has been a gigantic fuss about the gender specificity of language. I often agree with the fact that gender specific language is not a good thing. I think it is very strange, however, to complain about gender specific language and to draft up a solution which is simply gender specific for the opposite gender. It's basically following the eye for an eye principle, which will never result in equality.
Whenever I can, I use gender neutral words. Often times, I try to reword sentences. Recently, however, I have started to use the pronoun 'they' as a singular pronoun. As it is now, people object to using 'they' because it is not grammatically correct. I think that it could become grammatically correct if people used it more frequently. It's not commonplace, but hopefully it will become so soon; if it does, we will be able to avoid being gender specific for either gender without having to work to reword sentences.
Another advantage to using 'they' as a singular pronoun is that it includes everyone, regardless of gender. Some might say that we can achieve this same effect by using the clunky, but politically correct 'he/she', but this is not the case. Recently, some people have chosen to use alternative pronoun sets, such as 'zhe/zir', etc. Still others have chosen to go by the singular 'they' at least in speech - and they would likely choose to use the same pronouns in writing if doing so were accepted as grammatical.
ReplyDeleteAs it is not, I shall, in formal written contexts, continue trying to modify my sentences so that I can use plural pronouns rather than singular ones. When writing informally, however, I shall continue to use the singular 'they,' in hopes that doing so may help its acceptability eventually spread to formal writing as well.
P.S. I also posted this on my blog if you'd rather read it there.
It is improper to use a masculine modifier when neutral one could be used, ie. mankind vs. humankind. However, when providing examples, using he or she is just as proper as using Jones or Smith (even though they could be last names, they are still masculine last names). It is just that, an example, and can assume whatever context the author deems appropriate. Personally, I find myself using "they" more than is probably appropriate. It seems just as valid as using he/she, but using either when a specific modifier can be used doesn't seem nescisary.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting post. I just wanted to point out that in basically all other languages, especially other "Romance" languages, whenever there is a mixed-gender or gender-neutral situation one uses the masculine form. In these cultures this isn't considered improper or sexist. I think of it as the same way in English. Also, is altering your sentence to use a different, more appropriate, pronoun any different then saying "happy holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas"?
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