[WikiEN-l] WikiWomen (was Partial deletion)

Thu Jul 17 21:10:18 UTC 2003

>Delirium wrote:
>
>>Vicki Rosenzweig wrote:
>>
>>>What I think you're actually saying is that you *refer to* people whose 
>>>gender
>>>you don't know as "he". This has never been entirely standard, and will 
>>>annoy
>>>quite a few people at this epoch. Using full names, "they", and 
>>>workarounds
>>>like "that person", is probably a better idea.
>>
>>
>>Many people also dislike "they", because it's using plural forms (both the 
>>plural pronoun, and to be consistent, plural verbs) to refer to a single 
>>person.  Those people seem to be losing that particular battle though.
>
>well "you" is singular and plural. So why not another pronoun?
>
>>
>>As of late I've noticed in much academic writing a preferred solution has 
>>been to simply use "she".  It's not really any better than using "he" as 
>>far as correctness goes, but people are less likely to complain about it 
>>being sexist,
>
>well the trick with using "she" is to use "she" AND "he" approximately 
>equally. Just pick one at random!
>
>>I do find it somewhat jarring when I read it though, as I'm used to "she" 
>>being used to refer to people who are actually female, so it takes me a 
>>minute to realize from context that it's being used as a generic pronoun.
>
>now you know how female readers feel.... ;-)

Personally, where workable I use s/he. In articles, I use the gender used in 
primary documents if there is a primary document, and the gender of the 
office-holder when talking specifically. On when writing about the President 
of Ireland, as the Irish contitution uses 'he' I use it when talking 
theoretically about the office, she/her etc when writing in practice about 
the office as the current president is female. And a small note or footnote 
to explain usage so no-one reads any gender agenda between using either form 
and to avoid confusion. I have found in writing newspaper articles books etc 
that it works well once people know why things are in that form.

JT

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