Re: Gender neutrality and the multiple-personality third-person pronoun

Subject: Re: Gender neutrality and the multiple-personality third-person pronoun
From: Beth Agnew <beth -dot- agnew -at- senecac -dot- on -dot- ca>
To: TECHWR L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Sat, 07 Jan 2006 00:50:06 -0500

I'd have made shooter plural. We want all of those idiots to turn themselves in. Alternatively, "Police hope the shooter is identified and reported to authorities." Do we really care if that individual turns him/herself in, or someone else does it?

Let me append another media mis-statement to this thread. I recently heard a radio report relayed from one of the major US stations describing the new regulations for items allowed to be carried on passenger aircraft as including "screwdrivers fewer than seven inches long". Someone actually had to look that up, and then make the wrong choice between fewer/less than, because even the most illiterate person wouldn't say that.

Gene Kim-Eng wrote:

I would have written "himself." The likelihood that a woman would do anything as stupidly macho as firing a gun into the air to celebrate the new year are infinitesimal, as is the likelihood that even the most stridently politically-correct feminists would want to claim such a nitwit as their own.

--
Beth Agnew
Professor, Technical Communication
Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology
Toronto, ON 416.491.5050 x3133
http://www.tinyurl.com/83u5u

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Now Shipping -- WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word! Easily create online
Help. And online anything else. Redesigned interface with a new
project-based workflow. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l

Doc-To-Help 2005 now has RoboHelp Converter and HTML Source: Author content and configure Help in MS Word or any HTML editor. No proprietary editor! *August release. http://www.componentone.com/TECHWRL/DocToHelp2005

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- infoinfocus -dot- com -dot-
To unsubscribe send a blank email to techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40infoinfocus.com

To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.


References:
Gender neutrality and the multiple-personality third-person pronoun: From: H. Christopher Christner
Re: Gender neutrality and the multiple-personality third-person pronoun: From: Gene Kim-Eng

Previous by Author: Re: Job market for teachers in Tech Writing
Next by Author: Re: Documentation Review process - client feedback
Previous by Thread: Re: Gender neutrality and the multiple-personality third-person pronoun
Next by Thread: Gender neutrality and the multiple-personality third-person pronoun?


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads