“Some Notes on Gender-Neutral
Language”
Article by Carolyn
Jacobson
Report by Christina Oh
Introduction & Main Points

Every language reflects prejudices of its society and English is
no exception. As a reader and writer, we have to be aware of
different conventions and connotations that may be elicited
by a certain time period.
◦ “Man” was once used as be a generic term referring to all
humans, but is used now used to refer mainly to adult males.
◦ “He” is a pronoun that was intended to refer to both male and
female genders but because it has caused some discrepancies in
legal documents.
◦ There are several solutions for solving the pronoun problem.
“Man”

The word “man” was originally a generic word used
to describe all humans.

As time progressed, “man” became a more inclusive
word only to refer to adult males.

The Old English words for male and female were
waepman and wifman. Waepman eventually evolved to
just man and wifman evolved to be woman.

By the 18th century, “man” was no longer used as a
generic word referring to all humans.
“Man” – cont’d

When writing about the French Revolution in the
18th century, Edmund Burke took extra measures to
insure that his use of “man” was not misunderstood.
◦ “Such a deplorable havoc is made in the minds of men
(both sexes) in France…”

Unfortunately, Thomas Jefferson didn’t take the same
distinction when declaring that “all men are created
equal” during a time when women already didn’t have
the right to vote.

Modern dictionaries and studies of college students
and school children reveal that “man” and “men” are
taught to bring up images of males only.
The Pronoun Problem

When the first grammars of modern English were being written in
the 16th and 17th centuries they were written by male authors to
help upper class boys learn Latin.

Masculine-gender pronouns weren’t used to refer to both sexes
and it reflected the cultural dominance of males.

The use of “he” came about when grammarians were trying to
change the traditional use of “they” as a singular pronoun.

In 1850, Parliament made a new law that said “words importing the
masculine gender shall be deemed and taken to include females”.

Other societies have attempted to the same, but was often
conveniently overlooked.
The Pronoun Problem – cont’d

As of the 1990’s, the pronoun “he” along
with “man” is not a truly generic term as
is it was originally intended to be.

Because of the frequency of the misuse of
such pronouns many people, especially
women, feel that pronouns that were
meant to be generic exclude women.
Solving the Pronoun Problem

Using “they” as a singular pronoun:
◦ Most people use “they” as singular when writing
and speaking informally.
◦ However, many people are annoyed by the
incorrect grammar of using “they” as a singular
pronoun.
◦ Nonetheless, the singular use of “they” occurs
with increasing frequency.
Solving the Pronoun Problem – cont’d

Double-pronoun constructions have
made a comeback:
◦ Rather than just saying “he” and hoping that
people will include females, some people have
started using “he or she”.
◦ However, overusing double-pronouns can
sound awkward.
Solving the Pronoun Problem – cont’d

Eliminating pronouns all together:
◦ One could avoid using pronouns at all.
◦ For example, instead of saying
 “a first grader can feed and dress himself ”
 “a first grader can eat and get dressed w/o assistance”
Conclusion
Gender-neutral language is an issue about
audience and awareness, not about freedom
of speech or rules on writing.
 Most major textbook publishers,
professional and academic groups (i.e. APA,
New York Times, Wall Street Journal)
support the use of gender-neutral language
and avoid using language that isn’t.
 Many law, psychology, and literature journals
won’t print articles or papers that use
gender-inclusive language.

Questions?