July 8, 2015
I have to admit that I pause and struggle with what to use when I'm commenting about a person of an unknown or irrelevant sex. Commenting on network posts especially presents lots of opportunities to make statements about theoretical persons or about persons in situations that could be experienced by either sex. I've fallen into the improper but widely accepted use of they and sometimes their in the situations where I'm unsure.
For example, "If an employee needs a day off, they report it to their manager."
I looked up items on gender neutral words and found a lot of interesting information, some of which I attached below. For example I found that gender neutral words are used in many cultures. As someone who writes often, I would truly appreciate an accepted gender neutral word to replace the unknown he/she, & him/her. This has nothing to do with recent cultural discussions about gender. It is all about not having to stop and think about whether I leave more than half of the human population out of an idea by using the widely acceptable masculine he or him, or carry on with the incorrect use of they, their and them.
With thanks to Dale who got me thinking about the importance of the use of appropriate words in communication. It only takes one wrong word to turn the truth into a lie or allow for misconceptions.
What do you think? Is it time for a gender neutral pronoun when referring to a person of unknown or variable sex?
Which words do you use?
Copyright 2015 Wanda Hope Carter all rights not otherwise assigned are reserved, no duplication, downloading, screen shots or framing without express written permission. This article can be shared by link.
