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Actually, "its" would be gender-neutral in English, but using "its" to describe a person is considered very rude (because people actually have genders, so "its"
by betterunix2 9y ago
Actually, "its" would be gender-neutral in English, but using "its" to describe a person is considered very rude (because people actually have genders, so "its" implies that you are talking about something rather than someone).
Something to consider: Would you have had the same reaction to this sentence: "...a nurse (not her lawyer)...?" Many people would find that to be less "forced" because they are already comfortable assuming that nurses are women. In other words, the fact that using one pronoun stands out more than using another is evidence of a bias people carry (not necessarily you -- maybe you would have been equally curious if it was, "not his lawyer"; that would make you a very unique person ;) ).
- mercer 9y agoI generally go for 'they' to be neutral, but it doesn't always feel right.
- betterunix2 9y agoI believe that is because English grammar is in a transitional stage right now as we lose declensions for our pronouns. In a century or two, "they" might be the proper genderless pronoun, and we may not even have gendered pronouns at that point -- but that is not the English of today. So while using "they" as a genderless singular pronoun might sometimes work it still feels a bit awkward. Personally, I try to alternate between "he" and "she" when I am talking about hypothetical people, so I am never pushing the bounds of English grammar (at least with pronouns).
- mercer 9y ago'He' and 'she' switching confuses me, and while in some cases I do feel that it's a result of actual ambiguity, a big part of it might just be unfamiliarity. Either way, even in Dutch I find myself to be a bit more sensitive to these things and it's not something I'd argue against. Although in Dutch there's not even a 'they' we can use, practically.