Do you use "she" for gender neutrality when you write?

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: Fineghal
Next time she ****es about using she for gender neutrality, ask her if we should say womankind instead of mankind.

Point out that she's attempting to overturn a widely known standard of english for absolutely no benefit.

Point out that to be TRULY neutral, you'd have to either a) alternate he and she or b) write s/he. The first creates cognitive dissonance in the mind of the reader because we LEARN he as gender neutral. The second is an awkward bastardization of an either or choice that is out of place anywhere but an official document.

Frankly her zeal could be better used.

WOW BINGO!!!

 

[Skotty]

Men don't care, but for some reason some women currently do, so I mostly use "she" and/or "her". Sometimes I use "they", though I don't think it's proper grammar. And "one" only works if the person being talked about it not already in context. Maybe we should just get rid of masculine and feminine and just use "it" like is proper for animals. Works for me.

 

[dennilfloss]

Some people have even complained about the his in history and use herstory too. They are often the same persons who give really niggardly tips at the restaurant.

 

[KarmaPolice]

he

 

[Eli]

:laugh:

That's the most bizarre thing I've ever heard.

Yeah, there is a tendency to use "she" on things that have no gender, for me at least, but that doesen't really mean anything...

 

[Zenmervolt]

"She" as the pronoun for a person of unknown gender is not only NOT neutral, but also gramatically WRONG.

It is still correct to use "he" as the pronoun for a person of unknown gender. I had a professor challenge me on this and I refused to budge on it. Still got my A's in the class (Film Studies class, extremely liberal professor). She acknowledged that I was technically correct to use "he", but expressed shock that my HS teachers had still taught us that.

ZV

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: dennilfloss
Some people have even complained about the his in history and use herstory too. They are often the same persons who give really niggardly tips at the restaurant.

Fun part is that the etymology of "history" has no connection whatsoever to the masculine possessive pronoun.

ZV

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Flyback
College prof lectured to us that "she" is gender neutral.

I disagree but whored myself out for the sake of marks 😱😀

What a liar.

Actually, "he" is more gender neutral than "she"...sort of like how "actor" can refer to a male or female, but an "actress" is always female. Also, "man" can refer to the entire species, or a male individual, but "woman" always refers to the female.

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: Flyback
College prof lectured to us that "she" is gender neutral.

I disagree but whored myself out for the sake of marks 😱😀

What a liar.

Actually, "he" is more gender neutral than "she"...sort of like how "actor" can refer to a male or female, but an "actress" is always female. Also, "man" can refer to the entire species, or a male individual, but "woman" always refers to the female.

:thumbsup:

I'm all for womens and minority rights but let's not pollute the proper written english language with modern crap.

 

[Ronstang]

Was your prof male, female, or gender neutral?

 

[Ninjja]

Originally posted by: Flyback
College prof lectured to us that "she" is gender neutral.

I disagree but whored myself out for the sake of marks 😱😀

I agree with you, I don't feel like it is gender neutral, but funnily enough one of the law textbooks I'm uses "she" for everything.

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: Ninjja

Originally posted by: Flyback
College prof lectured to us that "she" is gender neutral.

I disagree but whored myself out for the sake of marks 😱😀

I agree with you, I don't feel like it is gender neutral, but funnily enough one of the law textbooks I'm uses "she" for everything.

No doubt written by a female.

She = feminine.

/discussion

 

[OOBradm]

i never realized so many people use "she" for gender neutrality. this strikes me as very weird! I suggest the OP to make a poll on what ppl use for gender neutrality

 

[dethman]

i'll take "WTF" for 500, alex.

 

[Kadarin]

IIRC, the usage of "they" for this purpose is getting more popular. The English language is definitely missing a term here.

 

[irishScott]

I use "he or she" or "he/she"

Gender Neutral my a$$. Check this out:

There was a guy named Bob.

She went to the store to buy a new lawnmower.

WTF. 😕

 

[dug777]

It's so blatantly not gender neutral i can't even comprehend how stupid yanks must be.

 

[Leros]

In every foreign language class I've taken, if you want to refer to a coed group of people, you use the masculine form.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: dug777
It's so blatantly not gender neutral i can't even comprehend how stupid yanks must be.

At least we have nice teeth.

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: dug777
It's so blatantly not gender neutral i can't even comprehend how stupid yanks must be.

At least our seasons work right.

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles

Originally posted by: dug777
It's so blatantly not gender neutral i can't even comprehend how stupid yanks must be.

At least we have nice teeth.

That makes no sense on any level 😕

I'm not aware of any stereotypical (or otherwise) link between Aussies and bad teeth.

Also, there's no way on god's green earth that 'she' is gender neutral, by its very definition 😛

 

[dug777]

Just out of interest, what's wrong with using something that's actually gender neutral, like 'they'?

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: dug777
Just out of interest, what's wrong with using something that's actually gender neutral, like 'they'?

'They' seems to imply plural. He/she is single.

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: Leros

Originally posted by: dug777
Just out of interest, what's wrong with using something that's actually gender neutral, like 'they'?

'They' seems to imply plural. He/she is single.

It's been commonly used to refer to a singular since about the 1300s according to answers.com.

Here's a stolen example for you:

Every person has rights under the law, but they don't always know them.

It makes no sense to use 'she' unless you're some mad feminist nutjob who's got an irrational problem with using 'they'.

 

[angminas]

I mix it up a lot. I say he, she, he or she, s/he, one, or quite often they. I would much rather use they than mess up my writing and thinking with something tardiculous. Anyone who's going to get caught up on using they isn't going to get anything out of my writing anyway.