> "He" (and "men" rather than "people" or "humanity" or other substitutes) was the "neutral" or "collective" or "universal" pronoun of the English language unti

> "He" (and "men" rather than "people" or "humanity" or other substitutes) was the "neutral" or "collective" or "universal" pronoun of the English language until very recently. For what it's worth, and without meaning to argue with the claim about common useage, E. Nesbit, who wrote (at least) in the very early 20th century (a quick Google shows me her "5 children and It" was published in 1902), already used the jarring-to-me but eminently logical 'it' as a gender-neutral pronoun.