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Miscellaneous

: the (new) legal writer

Pronoun problem

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For a long time, people have been searching for gender-neutral singular pronouns. How long? Consider this scene from Monty Python?s Life of Brian:

Judith: Any Anti-Imperialist group like ours must *reflect* such a divergence of interests within its power-base.

Reg: Agreed. (General nodding.) Francis?

Francis: I think Judith's point of view is valid here, Reg, provided the Movement never forgets that it is the inalienable right of every man--

Stan: Or woman.

Francis: Or woman...to rid himself--

Stan: Or herself.

Reg: Or herself. Agreed. Thank you, brother.

Stan: Or sister.

Francis: Thank you, brother. Or sister. Where was I?

Reg: I thought you'd finished.

Francis: Oh, did I? Right.

Reg: Furthermore, it is the birthright of every man ...

Stan: Or woman.

Reg: Why don't you shut up about women, Stan, you're putting us off.

The problem is you don?t always know whether your reader is like Stan or like Reg. Use masculine pronouns to refer to both men and women, and you risk offending Stan. Strive for political correctness, and you risk offending Reg.

One solution: Let gender-neutral plural pronouns do double-duty as singular pronouns. Traditionalists don?t like this solution. But they may be surprised to learn that this usage dates back to Chaucer, and that use of masculine pronouns to refer to both sexes is a relatively recent innovation?only a couple hundred years old. Language mavens Patricia O?Conner and Stewart Kellerman explain in this article for the N.Y. Time Magazine.

Full post as published by the (new) legal writer on July 25, 2009 (boomark / email).