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Subject:Re: use of he/she/they From:Holly Turner <hturner -at- HARBINGER -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 13 Aug 1997 10:25:13 -0400
I avoid using he, she, and they in my user documentation. I usually say
something like "the user" or some other generic term. It's never been
too difficult for me. The procedures I write are in 3rd person, and
when I describe a process (when I'm explaining how something works, not
what the user should do to make it work), I use a generic term to
describe any person involved.
Holly Turner
Technical Writer
Harbinger Corp.
>----------
>From: Barclay Blanchard[SMTP:bblancha -at- HALIS -dot- COM]
>Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 1997 3:13 PM
>Subject: use of he/she/they
>
>I've been mixing up the singular pronouns in my documents,
>using "she" sometimes and "he" others (most often "she"),
>and have been asked to change all of them to "they."
>
>It goes against the grain for me to use a plural pronoun that
>has a singular antecedent.
>
>I could rewrite so that there are no singular antecedents, but
>in some cases this may be clumsy.
>
>How do those of you who are "gender aware/sensitive" handle
>this?
>
>
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