Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84 SMI; site sun.uucp Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!decwrl!sun!sunny From: sunny@sun.uucp Newsgroups: net.nlang,net.women Subject: Re: Gender-specific responses to s/he Message-ID: <1914@sun.uucp> Date: Thu, 3-Jan-85 15:03:27 EST Article-I.D.: sun.1914 Posted: Thu Jan 3 15:03:27 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 5-Jan-85 01:56:52 EST References: <1315@dciem.UUCP> <643@bunker.UUCP> Distribution: net Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc. Lines: 25 Xref: watmath net.nlang:2312 net.women:3959 > > Generic Versus Specific Inclusion of Women in Language: Effects on Recall > > > > Mary Crawford and Linda English > > > > J. Psycholinguistic Research, 1984, 13, 373 > > > > ... College student subjects read essays that were identical > > except for the use of "generic" terms versus those that deliberately > > include women (he/she, his/her, people). In experiment 1, the Generic > > essay form led to better recall of the essay's factual content by male > > subjects, while the Specific form produced better recall by females. > > Wonderful. So no matter how I write, I will be discriminating > against *somebody*, in that what I write will be harder for females > to grasp if I use generic terms, and harder for males to grasp if > I use he/she. > > Gary Samuelson > ittvax!bunker!garys Try using "their" whether referring to one generic person or many persons: it's easier to read than he/she or his/her, and is gender non-specific. Sunny -- {ucbvax,decvax,ihnp4}!sun!sunny