by Stanley Anderson » June 25th, 2007, 2:21 pm
So the conclusion that seems to be indicated by the various comments here is that perhaps the sizeable effort of the last few decades to get people to write in a gender-neutral manner is misplaced and that it is not such a big deal after all to use "he" as a generic pronoun or to talk about mankind as a generic term for the human race, and that Star Trek (since it came up in the discussion:-) may as well have stuck with "...where no man has gone before..." instead of changing it to "...where no one has gone before...".
After all, if the gay (or gay and lebian?) community has no problem with the supposed gender biased nature of the "male" term becoming the generic for male and female, and one would think they of all groups would be more aware and sensitive to such things, then it must ok.
What do you think, guys. Is it every man for himself when writing for public consumption, or should he try to temper his writing with references to "he or she", or "one", or the often grammatically questionable "they", or alternating with "she"? Or is it Man's lot in life to forever ponder whether he should stick with the traditions of his culture or buck Father Time and break with established practices?
--Stanley
…on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a fair green country under a swift sunrise.