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I find this topic very interesting and the opinions equally so.
I often substitute the plural "they/their" for "he/his" when referring a
group that includes men and women. I have no problem with this because my
audience has none. In truth, I suspect there are many in our collective
audiences who have problems identifying such a change in number. Besides, it
is accepted practice (in the US, anyway) to substitute "they/their" for the
singular.
My job is to provide information to the audience in such a way that they can
understand and easily use it. Adding the distraction of a gender-neutral
male pronoun, which ticks off female members of my audience, is not in my
game plan. I do not belong to any academie charged with the purpose of
purifying or keeping pure the US-English language. Besides, that's a battle
we can't even define, let alone win.
Like everyone, I have many pre-conceived notions, many of which are a result
of my environment. I try to filter out of my technical writing these
preconceptions, such as associating the professions of fire fighter and
police officer with males. I further try not to act on those preconceptions
in any offensive way. I see those efforts as a requirement of belonging to
society. Besides, I admittedly have no strong opinion on the issue, probably
because I am male, and am one to pick my battles with care.
All the best and stay safe.
Sean
sean -at- quodata -dot- com
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: Spencer Fleury [mailto:boylston_st -at- YAHOO -dot- COM]
>>>Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 1999 11:08 AM
>>>To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>>>Subject: Re: Gender-specific pronouns
>>>
>>>
>>>--- Suzette Seveny <sseveny -at- petvalu -dot- com> wrote:
>>>> I agree with avoiding the use of they/their in
>>>> singular situations as well.
>>>> How about a simple reword, "the user will", or try
>>>> writing in the second
>>>> person (which I tend to do in my User Guides) and
>>>> say "you will". The use of a
>>>> pronoun might not be necessary in all situations.
>>>
