Regarding the alternating "he" and "she," I found it confusing when an
author writing a book about raising babies alternated gender
references from one chapter to another. As a totally inexperienced
new mom of a son, I found myself negating needed advice from the
"female chapters" because they didn't seem to apply immediately to my
male baby. The same was true when I used that book after my daughter
was born a few years later although I did get to focus on the chapters
I'd been tending to skip earlier. I worked around that to get the
help I needed, but I kept having to tell myself, "This advice applies
to boy and girl babies, so just read on." I soon ceased to be a fan
of that approach.
Linda Comerford
Comerford Consulting
317.786.6404
[log in to unmask]
[log in to unmask]
<http://www.comerfordconsulting.com/> www.comerfordconsulting.com
_____
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Patricia Lafayllve
Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2009 11:18 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Any member can give their opinion
It's very much a "work-around," but I've been known to use "he" in one
sentence, and "she" in the next - thus removing the sexist
implications of gendered pronoun trouble altogether. This way we're
not using "their" as a singular, and we're still respecting the
"inherent sexism of the English language" argument. Not a perfect
solution, but the one I can best live with, right now.
-patty
_____
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Paul E. Doniger
Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2009 5:48 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Any member can give their opinion
I find it acceptable in conversation (sometimes), but not in formal
writing. My students (high school) have a very hard time with my
"conservative" attitude about it. I don't find it easy to read
"their," et al, as singular pronouns.
Paul D.
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an
improbable fiction" (_Twelfth Night_ 3.4.127-128).
_____
From: DD Farms <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, April 8, 2009 10:33:14 PM
Subject: Any member can give their opinion
At 06:15 PM 4/8/2009, O'Sullivan, Brian P wrote:
> I was wondering whether list members find that it is now acceptable
(or at least accepted in some circles) to use "they" or "their" as an
alternative to constructions like "he or she" or "his or her"--that
is, as a gender-neutral third-person pronoun (as in my subject line).
DD: HORROR! I demur. Keep those agreeable agreements amongst the
components of the utterance.
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web
interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web
interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select
"Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this
LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or
leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
|
