Just say no to "it"

[Melissa Hunter-Kilmer <mhunterk -at- BNA -dot- COM>]

>> A couple of weeks ago, in a column of the Gazette (Montreal) devoted to
>> language, the author suggests that if there are enough people who use "it"
>> instead of "he or she" or "he/she", the practice will eventually be
>> adopted by everyone.
>>
>> Does anyone have any opinion about the proposed solution?

   On Fri, 4 Aug 1995, Loren Castro <lfc -at- SOL -dot- CHINALAKE -dot- NAVY -dot- MIL> said:

> Why don't we convene the equivalent of a constitutional convention and
   create a word for a gender-free singular personal pronoun and be done with
   it?  I nominate the STC to lead the effort and at the same time settle all
   the other vexing problems that we quibble over.

   Fine -- but will people abide by it?  Common usage is what determines
   these matters, as many techwhirlers have preceded me in saying.  So far,
   seems to me our best bet is sentence construction that avoids the issue
   if possible, and it's nearly always possible.

> "He or she" is barely tolerable and tedious.  "He/she" and "s/he" are
> abominable.  "It" seems silly, but we say "it" when referring to a baby.

   We do not _all_ say "it" when referring to a baby, even one whose sex has
   not yet been discovered.  I feel that calling a baby "it" has a
   dehumanizing effect, just as it does on an adult.  A thing is an "it," and
   maybe an animal is, too -- but not a person of any age.

   Melissa Hunter-Kilmer
   mhunterk -at- bna -dot- com
   BNA and I have a deal -- we don't speak for each other.