Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 (Tek) 9/28/84 based on 9/17/84; site tekecs.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!tektronix!orca!tekecs!jeffw From: jeffw@tekecs.UUCP (Jeff Winslow) Newsgroups: net.nlang,net.women Subject: Re: Gender-Specific Pronouns Message-ID: <5015@tekecs.UUCP> Date: Wed, 16-Jan-85 23:58:47 EST Article-I.D.: tekecs.5015 Posted: Wed Jan 16 23:58:47 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 19-Jan-85 00:23:03 EST References: <353@cadovax.UUCP> <775@druxo.UUCP> <19509@lanl.ARPA> Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR Lines: 35 Xref: watmath net.nlang:2435 net.women:4138 > > Shakespeare: Everyone to rest themselves. > > > > Shaw: It's enough to drive anyone out of their sense. > > > > Scott Fitzgerald: Nobody like a mind quicker than their own. > > > > Dr. Mary Celderone: Everybody must develop their own standards of > > sexual morality. > > > > The Phone Store: Give someone a phone of their own. > > > > Lord Chesterfield: If a person is born of a gloomy temper...they > > cannot help it. > > > > J. F. Kennedy: If that person gets sick...they are in the hospital... > > > > Senator Hart: ...the person who goes for food stamps does it > > because they are poor. > > I note that, once again, all of these examples are of the use of a plural > pronoun in reference to an original subject which was semantically plural. > In all the above cases, the original subject implied the inclusion or > exclusion of a large class of people - in fact, often the plural pronoun > was used to emphasize that fact. Right! And those are *exactly* the cases where the use of generic "he" is considered to be the most conducive to the formation of stereotypes. So let's stop advancing silly artificial pronouns which no one with a P.A.Q. (political acceptability quotient) of less than 180 will use and use the words we have - namely "they" and "their". That's what they're (sic) for. Of course, to reference a person whose sex is known, "he" or "she" should be used as appropriate. I really have to wonder when people are squeamish about even this. Jeff Winslow