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© Copyright 2001, Jim Loy
A lot of people seem to think that if you don't mean to do harm, then you do no harm, or at least you are not to blame for the harm you do. I have been told that IQ tests are not biased, and that opinion polls are not biased, because the creators of these things try to avoid bias. Well, they are biased, merely because nothing is perfect. We all know that words can do harm, despite what we were told as children: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me" (That didn't even rhyme). Language can do harm, to Blacks, to Hispanics, to women, to anyone.
"A driver should buckle his seat belt." Here "his" refers to "driver" who is of indeterminant sex. That is standard English. If you don't know the sex of the person you are talking or writing about, for whatever reason, then it is proper English to use "he," "him," or "his." Well, female egos can take a beating, in proper English. Incidentally, they probably take a greater beating in other languages. Anyway, the above use of "his" may seem perfectly harmless. But females hear this every day, and it may take a toll on some of them. And many do object, and call it sexist. Star Trek changed it's opening statement from "Where no man has gone before," to "Where no one has gone before," and that sounds better anyway. We should at least ease the damage of unintended slights.
I have been using "he/she," "him/her," "his/her" for a few years now. It is a little shorter than "he or she" etc. It may seem a little awkward, especially in a monstrosity like this: "He/she should write his/her paper by himself/herself." An alternative is to use the plural: "A driver should buckle their seat belt." That sounds wrong to me, but some famous authors have chosen that method, for many decades now. Stranger solutions have been proposed. Sometimes we even use "it" for a baby: "Is it a boy or a girl?" And many people now use the feminine pronouns when the sex is indeterminant: "A driver should buckle her seatbelt." Others alternate between feminine and masculine pronouns. All of these solutions can distract a reader, as he/she starts considering the grammar rather than the content of what he/she is reading.
Quite often, the whole issue can be avoided, as in the Star Trek example. "They should write their papers by themselves," may be slightly ambiguous ("themselves" may possibly allow collaboration); but it is non-sexist and correct English. Similarly, "When you drive, you should buckle your seat belt." In the distant past, one might have said, "When one drives, one should buckle one's seat belt." These solutions are preferable, when possible, as they sound much more natural.