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And how do you feel about the use of "he" as a generic pronoun in reference to an individual of undetermined gender? That has also been well established in Engl
by jfk13 6y ago
And how do you feel about the use of "he" as a generic pronoun in reference to an individual of undetermined gender? That has also been well established in English for centuries.
- MiddleEndian 6y agoI think "they" is better because it also works even when referring to a specific person whose gender may be known, such as the Finnish author mentioned earlier. Minimal cognitive processing.
- vidarh 6y agoI have no objections to it personally, but in the context I proposed they/them, where the point was to not have to think about it, it is not applicable as you then need to consider the distinction between an unspecified person and a named person of unknown gender, where 'he' is not generally applicable, and often comes across as rude and presumptuous if you get it wrong.