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From: mfs@mhuxr.UUCP (SIMON)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: sexist language/bad attitudes
Message-ID: <276@mhuxr.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 22-Mar-85 17:13:29 EST
Article-I.D.: mhuxr.276
Posted: Fri Mar 22 17:13:29 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 23-Mar-85 04:01:54 EST
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Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill
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> 
> It is not more comfortable for me to say or hear said "he" rather than 
> "they" or "she or he" when referring to an unidentified person with whom 
> I may perhaps wish to identify.
> 
> It does not put me at ease to know that he is used in sentences all the 
> time, causing listeners/readers to imagine a man as they take in whatever 
> scenerio is being described.  In fact, using the word "he" actively 
> discourages me and others from imagining a woman as the central figure 
> in the scene described.  Using "he" fosters the bad attitude of assuming 
> men always take active roles.  This attitude has far reaching implications
> (such as fostering the attitude that women don't (don't want to or can't)
> take active roles).
> 
> Julia Harper

You may be right. In cases like that, correct the speaker. 
Write to the magazine. Flame the poster. Take action.
Alternately, take action yourself. Point to that action.
Point to your femaleness. My point is, do not neuter the language
because you do not wish to correct a bad situation yourself.

The above paragraph sounds a lot harsher than I intend it to.
Let's try again. I don't think the language should be blamed for
deficiencies in people's thinking. It is correct that sexism runs
deep in American society. It is not correct that language modifications
will do much to eradicate sexism. To approach the problem of
sexism with pseudo solutions like a singular 'they' will not solve the
problem. It will introduce confusion and ambiguity in communication.
(I previously posted an article that detailed options to using
gender specific pronouns in gender neutral situations.)
Embracing silly causes like the singular 'they' will give
ammunitions to the enemies of feminism, who may well jump on it
as an example of the 'evils' likely to be perpetrated by the
women's movement. Remember, the ERA was defeated in part because
its enemies convinced many that it would bring about silly things,
like coeds bathrooms... Let's not make those mistakes again.

Marcel Simon