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From: crs@lanl.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: gender specific pronouns again
Message-ID: <28228@lanl.ARPA>
Date: Fri, 12-Jul-85 16:19:01 EDT
Article-I.D.: lanl.28228
Posted: Fri Jul 12 16:19:01 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 17-Jul-85 04:05:37 EDT
References: <539@ttidcc.UUCP>
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Lines: 36

> The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe)
> >Polly writes:
> >I once had to use a textbook where  the  genders  were  simply  alternated,
> >sometimes  within  the  same  sentence.  The effect was _very_ distracting.
> >Having to deal with a subject that changes sex three times in one  sentence
> >slows  the  reading and information absorption process enormously (at least
> >it did for me), probably because it's so unexpected and unusual.
> 
> Now, the funny thing about this posting is that part and parcel of this
> discussion is that we are looking for a pronoun that doesn't leave an
> impression of sex.  Polly indicates that the changing use of the pronoun
> was distracting because it changed "sex" three times.
> 
> What does that do to the stance that the pronoun "he" already stands for
> everybody (and not just male people)?

But when "he" is alternated with "she" (which *is* gender/sex specific)
the (artificial) contrast produced *suggests* the nongeneric meaning
of "he" where, if used normally, the context suggests the generic
meaning or, at worst, suggests nothing and leaves the selection to the
judgment of the reader.  At least it does for me.

> Seems to me it helps support the
> claim that the use of a gender specific pronoun encourages a sense of
> sexuality in the object of that pronoun, and that "he" is a gender specific
> pronoun, not a neuter one.  Polly is usually satisfied by not publicizing a
> stand on one side or another of an issue, but it seems to me those of you
> out there who do take a stand can't ignore these factors.

See above.


-- 
Charlie Sorsby
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