s/he

By Daniel Miessler on May 2nd, 2007: Tagged as Culture | Language | Political Correctness | Writing

I think s/he would be a pretty good way to say “he/she”. Unfortunately, I’m rather against the term, especially in technical writing. If 95% of programmers, IT workers, and geeks are male (yes, I made the number up), all you do is call attention to yourself when you contort yourself into saying “he/she”.

It’s actually insulting to women, in my view — like it’s giving them more representation than they actually have because they’re fragile and need the help. It’s demeaning in the same way that lowering the standard for a quota is — an admission of inferiority.

We all know that there are some women in these predominantly male fields, and we all know that many of them are quite good at what they do. Let’s leave it at that. They are still in the hyper-minority, so trying to pretend that they are in equal numbers when writing does nothing but expose one’s own PC insecurities.

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Viewing 9 Comments

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    Another thing I notice in Tech books/articles is that some writers always use "she". It is annoying, not because I am sexest or worried that a woman will go further than me, but because I think they use "she" just to be politically correct and that bothers me.
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    This is an argument I've seen in nearly all writing classes I've taken. To me, it's simple: "he" has been used for so long, it works nicely as a neutered pronoun. S/he deserves getting someone imprisoned for using it, as does "he or she." It's all so cumbersome, especially when we have a perfectly working solution already that apparently people just need a new view on. I don't mind changing up for just "she" on occasion, but I still feel a plain ol' "he" works best.
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    I hate "s/he" (because it is impossible to read) and "he/she" (for essentially the same reason). But, I've no problem with "he or she." For years I made the argument that he was a neuter pronoun when used as such. But, the fact is, it isn't really. So, I use "he or she," "him or her," and "his or hers." To say that this is insulting to women is just silly. It isn't an attempt to say that women are 50% of whatever group is being discussed. It is about the fact that SOME of the people being talked about are not appropriately described using the masculine pronoun.

    The writers who use "she" throughout their writing are not being politically correct. They're making a point. We (men) don't HEAR the word "he" .. and just think that it refers to people (like us). We may even BELIEVE that it is a gender neutral word. But, when we come across writing that uses ONLY "she" we are taken aback and think that it is inappropriate. The author would AGREE that it is inappropriate and is merely making the point that it is also inappropriate to use only "he."

    Generations of children had their views of life's possibilities shaped in part by the words people used to describe people in various professions (doctors = he, nurses = she, bosses = he, secretaries = she, etc.). Is it really so hard to say an extra couple of words once in a while?
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    Just remember, You also need to switch the "he or she" to "she or he" periodically to attempt not to upset anyone. Personally, I just do my best to phrase my sentences to use they, them, you, people, or the like. It's much more general, though I understand it doesn't work in all instances.

    My 2 cents ...
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    Isn't it grammatically correct to use the masculine form of a descriptor (or pronoun, as the case may be) if the gender of the subject is unknown?

    Also, I used "gender" incorrectly in that last sentence. Words are of a certain gender (masculine, feminine, or neutral), people are of a certain sex (male, female, hermaphrodite, or "Barbie"). I'm resisting the urge to talk about sex and shrimp.
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    Personally, I like Greg Egan's pronouns in Diaspora - "ve" for he/she, "ver" for him/her, "vis" for his/hers
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    Let me use this opportunity to say that Greg Egan is a GREAT author -- particularly if you like mathematics, physics, and computer science. Science Fiction of TOP quality!
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    1 Eamon

    I find that "deliberate use of she my a male and ( ahem ) enlightened tech author" is completely absurd.
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    Well, the thing is I never used to really notice it until I read an arcticle a few years ago by someone who actually said he used "she" on purpose, just to shake things up.

    It's fine to want to change the standard. It never bothered me before, but now it does. I just don't like people turning something seemingly innocuous into a cause. Now when I see that it really irritates me. Just the word, not the fact that it icould be a woman in the story/article. That's totally fine. I just hate the use of "she" for the generic. But then again, I am quite neurotic.

    Maybe we should just go back to the generic "one".
 

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