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Re: Gender bias (was Evolving language or laziness), Re: Framemaker required
Subject:Re: Gender bias (was Evolving language or laziness), Re: Framemaker required From:David Ibbetson <ibbetson -at- IDIRECT -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 20 Mar 1996 18:09:23 -0500
The pronoun problem can be avoided by making a decision to avoid the third
person.
e.g. Second person
The much-quoted and -modified example "If anyone wants to smoke, it can do
it outside." can, so simply, be rewritten "If you want to smoke you may do
so outside."
e.g. Infinitive and imperative.
"To open bottle, twist cap."
Does this help, or simply muddy the waters?
============================
Tracy writes:
What bothers me is people who have no experience who just decided to
be a writer one day (probably the day they saw the ad). What are we
doing wrong? Why do people think *anyone* can be a writer? Why does
my boss pay our contract desktop publishers more than our contract
writers? Why did our last opening for a writer draw resumes from one
of our Systems Design guys and a woman who works at our print shop
(if you can print, you can write?) Why do we get resumes from
people who can't even show me that they have ever written one
paragraph in their entire lives?????????
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