Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83 (MC840302); site boring.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!whuxlm!harpo!decvax!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!mcvax!boring!jack From: jack@boring.UUCP Newsgroups: net.nlang Subject: Re: Pronouns devoid of gender connotations Message-ID: <6473@boring.UUCP> Date: Mon, 24-Jun-85 12:36:04 EDT Article-I.D.: boring.6473 Posted: Mon Jun 24 12:36:04 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 29-Jun-85 01:45:26 EDT References: <2718@decwrl.UUCP> <337@spar.UUCP> Reply-To: jack@boring.UUCP (Jack Jansen) Organization: CWI, Amsterdam Lines: 31 Apparently-To: rnews@mcvax.LOCAL > Subjective: We need a programmer. {S/he,they,one?} must have 5 years' > programming experience in C. We need a programmer. Five year programming experience in C is required. > Possessive: The applicant must know how to tie {his/her,their,one's?} > shoes. Applicants must know how to tie their shoes. > Objective: When you see John's secretary, give {him/her,them,one?} this > memo. No problem here, since this is speaking language. The person saying this probably knows the gender of John's secretary. Otherwise just ask "Could you give this to John's secretary?". What I'm trying to say is the following: We don't have to make up new words to write gender-less language. In the cases where it is really important (like advertisments, etc), you can just re-organise your sentences to circumvene the problem. In manuals and the like, you can use 'one'. In cases that aren't covered by this, you pick one of he/she, and alternate. This tends to work very well. Ursula Le Guin wrote a book ("The Left Hand of Darkness"), in which most of the people were genderless. In the introduction, she said that she refrained from using 'heshe' or 'te', since they sound so unnatural, but used 'he' and 'she' alternately in stead. The first time you meet the use of 'she' for, for instance, the king, it looks very funny, but you get used to it very soon, and tend to forget the gender-specific aspect of he or she (At least, I did). -- Jack Jansen, jack@mcvax.UUCP The shell is my oyster.