Usage: Gender bias (essay)

[Shelley Strong <sstrong -at- TECHREPS -dot- COM>]

The use of "he" to indicate both sexes may have its origins in other
languages from which English draws many if not most of its words.  Spanish
is largely Latin-based.  Its masculine and feminine pronouns, "el" and
"ella," turn to "el" when "generic.  The plurals are "ellos" and "ellas."
Except when "they" refers to a group of mixed or unknown gender composition,
in which case, the proper "generic" pronoun is "ellos."  Sound familiar?

I find the consistent use of "she" to be a refreshing shift from the
masculine-based "generic" pronoun.  But I, too, find it somewhat distracting
_because _I _am _not _accustomed _to _reading _"she" _generically _the _way
_I _am _used _to _reading _"he" _generically.  Give me some time.  I'd
*like* to get used to it. (Just don't pester me by switching between the two
every-other paragraph.)

For comparison, recall getting used to a new prescription of contact lens or
glasses.  (For those not yet plagued by myopia or other vision problems,
recall getting used to wearing seat belts, jock straps, brassieres, etc.)
At first it feels all wrong!  But once you get used to it, you realize it's
right and it feels all wrong without "it."

We could rest easy if English had provided a suitable, pleasant-sounding
word that could serve as a generic "he or she/his or her" replacement, but
that is not the case.  And I don't think it will ever happen.  English isn't
built that way.  Neither are men and women.  The Enlightenment has happened:
women are individuals with an X and Y chromosome; men are individuals with
two X chromosomes.  And except for bizarre genetic mutations, ne'er the two
shall blend in one body

 . . . or in one pronoun.


Shelley R. Strong,              We are all apprentices in a craft where no one
Technical Editor                 ever becomes a master. - Ernest Hemingway
sstrong -at- techreps -dot- com
(505) 266-5678 ext. 264