Re: use of he/she/they

Subject: Re: use of he/she/they
From: Tim Covil <covil_t -at- WIZTEC-USA -dot- COM>
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 1997 16:10:48 -0400

Barclay,

As David points out, "you" bypasses the problem. Try to address the
reader directly whenever possible. If you must make a reference to a
third party, some options are:

"S/he" (hate it!)
"He or she" (hate it just a little less!)

Let's face it, SOMEONE (whether a he, a she, a them or an it!) will hate
the pronoun you choose. So don't use pronouns! There are many creative
ways to structure your sentences. If you have any especially troublesome
phrases, post them and we'll be glad to take a shot at them

>----------
>From: David Dvorkin[SMTP:dvorkin -at- BOLIX -dot- COM]
>Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 1997 3:57 PM
>To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>Subject: Re: use of he/she/they
>
>Barclay Blanchard wrote:
>
>>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?
>
>I hate all of those options, so I use "you" and avoid the problem.
>
>"Hey, you! Click the button already, willya?"
>
>
>
>
>David Dvorkin
>Qualix Group
>Boulder Development Ctr.
>mailto:dvorkin -at- bolix -dot- com
>
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>

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