I like to read English usage dictionaries because they're the best way to keep up on our evolving language so that I can be an effective editor someday. Often I find the passages pretty humorous because our language is way more confusing than I ever imagined. Take, for example, the issues of gender equality. Can you use the pronoun “he” to represent a vague person in a sentence? You know, like “Anyone can wear his jacket to the prom.” Is that okay, or is it sexist?
Some linguists argue that the general use of the pronoun “he” is non-inclusive. In human words, that means that using “he” when you mean either a man or woman is bad. The feminists apparently tried for years to make pronouns more inclusive. They tried to use “he/she” or “s/he” to represent both “he” and “she”. Those examples are even more ridiculous to me, but hey, that’s linguistics.
My personal favorite, of course, is the argument that the gender-neutral pronoun “it” should be included as well (lest those non-gender humans feel excluded). The suggestion for inclusion in this case is “s/h/it”, which seems a fair representation of what language is coming to in the hands of people who think far too much and not at all, all at the same time.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure you can, if so desired, just use 'he' through an entire paper. Or you can switch off and sometimes say he, and the next time you need a generic 'one' use she. S/he is acceptable, but awkward. And our writing teacher told us about some crap where you can use 'zhe' as a neuter pronoun, with 'zher' or 'zhim' or something standing in for him/her. Crazy language - why do you think people just automatically say they in spoken English?
ReplyDeletePS: You're pretty much nuts for enjoying reading English usage dictionaries. I suggest finding a drastically more entertaining hobby, such as watching leaves fall off the tree, sit on the ground, and then turn to dirt eventually. You will be surprised how much better your quality of life is.
Please, please tell me that was all an elaborate set up for your joke. I want to live in a world where there aren't people campaigning to include she, he and it all in one (slightly scandalous) pronoun.
ReplyDeleteOh, but it's true, Rachel. And yes, Josh, you can alternate he for she in each paragraph or the other suggestions you offered, but they all pose the same problem of lacking consistency, which we want in our literature. Personally I'm rooting for zhim to catch on. It sounds zwhimsical and zfanciful.
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