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About your PS: using "he" and its associated pronouns as the neuter pronoun is a well-established and common occurrence. It's not being sexist, or non-gender-ne
by benaiah 13y ago
About your PS: using "he" and its associated pronouns as the neuter pronoun is a well-established and common occurrence. It's not being sexist, or non-gender-neutral, it's just a way to have neuter pronouns without awkward constructions such as "they" or "he/she". Those are fine, but they read awkwardly to some people. Using "he" is a perfectly acceptable alternative.
- jedberg 13y agoI'm aware that technically he/him are both gender neutral, as they derive from "human"(Latin) and not "man"(German). None the less, in today's common usage, it has lost that multifaceted meaning and the preferred language today is using the 3rd person as the gender neutral pronoun, or s/he or he/she.
- benaiah 13y agoWhile "they" may be the more common usage (though I personally doubt it), it doesn't really matter: it's fine to use whatever you want, and there's no reason to call him on it when it's not actually sexist. I have no problem with you using "they", but I don't see any reason to have a problem with the OP using "he", either. That's the only point I was trying to make.
- cabalamat 13y ago> While "they" may be the more common usage (though I personally doubt it), it doesn't really matter In your opinion. It matters to some people. > it's fine to use whatever you want Be aware that if you use the "he" form with some audiences, you will get a negative reaction. As to whether this is "fine" it depends on the purpose of your communication.
- cabalamat 13y ago> I'm aware that technically he/him are both gender neutral, as they derive from "human"(Latin) and not "man"(German). No they don't. "He" is from Proto-Germanic *hi- http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=he http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=he And even if it was derived from that word, words change mening over time so the current meaning could be radically different from the ancient meaning. For example, "silly": http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=silly http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=silly > the preferred language today is using the 3rd person as the gender neutral pronoun "he", "she", "it" and "they" are all 3rd person pronouns. I'm guessing you meant the 3rd person plural pronoun ("they"). The singular they is actually quite old, dating from the 15th century https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-specific_and_gender-neutral_pronouns#Singular_they https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-specific_and_gender-neu...
- eru 13y agoGerman `man' is actually gender-neutral. Or do you talk about `Germanic'-English `man'?
- ElongatedTowel 13y agoI think he didn't mean the actually word "man", but its translation "Mann" which isn't gender-neutral at all.
- bjourne 13y agoJust because something is well-established doesn't mean it is right. "He" is obviously not a gender neutral word because it refers to a male. Now why should you make an effort to use correct language here? Because it matters. Language forms thought and if we continue to add genders to professions such as programmer -> he, nurse -> she, laywer -> he, au pair -> she then that has detrimental effects for the excluded sex.
- benaiah 13y agoSo, the extent of your argument consists of telling me I'm wrong without even trying to back up that claim? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-neutral_pronoun#Generic_he http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-neutral_pronoun#Generic_...
- bjourne 13y agoDo you deny that always envisaging programmers as males put female programmers at a disadvantage? Read the usage note here and think for yourself: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/He http://www.thefreedictionary.com/He
- benaiah 13y agoI don't think you're thinking this through. Using "he" as the neuter is not assuming the subject is masculine. It's reusing "he" for another purpose. It's one word with two meanings. It's fine if you don't want to use it, but it's not inappropriate or sexist when others do.
- bjourne 13y agoThat is exactly the same logic that people who use "gay" as a derogatory term uses. But it is wrong as it adds connotations to a word where none should be, such as gay=bad and he=the norm. Ask yourself why you would want to use imprecise language that can be misunderstood when exact alternatives are available?