Gender-specific language [was: Re: GNOME Documentation Style Guide]

[Dan Mueth <d-mueth uchicago edu>]

On Mon, 9 Jul 2001, Telsa Gwynne wrote:

> Oh, and I tried very hard to stay out of the other thread about
> gender-neutral language. But for the record, since we appear to
> be playing majority votes here (which strikes me as pointless),
> I do resent and object to "he" including "she". I like the style
> guide though. :)

:)

I like what the style guide currently says, although I think it left out
one case...

The style guide, as it currently stands, says:

"Avoid sexist language

    Do not get tied in knots with his/her or s/he. These pronouns do not
exist. Stay neutral."

It later clarifies the meaning of this with:

"Topic 11
                    Use of personal pronouns.
 Rule
                    Do not use personal pronouns other than you.
 Example
                    We recommend this method of moving a symbolic link.
 Rewrite
                    Use this method to move a symbolic link.
 Exception
                    None."

and:

"Topic 16
              Gender-specific references.
 Rule
              Avoid gender-specific references.
 Example
              Tell the user to reset his password.
 Rewrite
              Tell the users to reset their passwords.
 Exception
              None. "

This seems very reasonable.  It covers most situations and we would
not need to use "he" or "she" in a situation where the gender is not
specified.  The one piece which seems to be unspecified is what we do if
we have a sentence where we can't switch to the plural:

       Tell your boss to install Linux on XXXXX computer.

To remain gender-neutral, should we use "their" in this situation?  While
this has the singular/plural agreement problem, it seems to be the
preferred way to avoid gendered language these days (aside from
restructuring the sentence).

Dan