By: Carolyn Jacobson
Presenter: Bassam Shaikh
English 393
Introduction
 Practice of assigning masculine gender to neutral
terms reflects the society in which the language
evolved.
 Historically, English evolved in a male dominated
patriarchal society.
 English is always changing and one can notice the
shifts that have occurred in the language in past 100
years
The term “Man”
 “Man” was a generic term, referring to all humans, but
has narrowed to become a word referring to adult male
human being.
 For example, an Anglo-Saxon writer refers to a
seventh-century English princess as “a wonderful
man.”
 Also when Thomas Jefferson declared “all men are
created equal”.
 Modern dictionaries link “man” with males.
The Pronoun Problem
 The first grammars of modern English were written in
the 16th and 17th centuries to help the boys from upper
class to study Latin.
 The authors wrote for male audience.
 The pronouns reflected the male culture dominance.
 "He" started to be used as a generic pronoun by
grammarians who tried to change a tradition of using
they as a singular pronoun
 In 1850 an Act of Parliament gave official sanction to
the recently invented concept of the "generic" he.
Solving the Pronoun Problem
 They as a Singular--Most people, when writing and
speaking informally, rely on singular they as a matter
of course: "If you love someone, set them free" (Sting).
 Using He or She.
 Eliminating Pronouns- instead of “a first grader can
feed and dress himself”, you could write, "a first grader
can eat and get dressed without assistance.”
 He/she or s/he, using one instead of he.
The Practical Side
 Author mentions that this is not about freedom of
speech but an issue of audience and awareness.
 Gender neutral language has gained support among
book publishers and professional & academic groups,
such as, American Psychological Association and
Associated Press.
 Newspapers like the New York Times and the Wall
Street Journal avoid such language.
Conclusion
 English language is becoming more gender neutral as
it is evolving.
 We need to be conscious of the expectations of
workplaces where guidelines are given to focus on
using gender neutral language.
 For example, many law journals, psychology journals,
and literature journals do not print articles or papers
that use gender-inclusive language.
Questions?