Gender neutral pronouns. (sentence, grammar, quote, difference)

[Stumbler.]

How do you deal with a situation where you have to write a gender neutral pronoun?

Do you prefer "he/she", "they" or another option (phrasing around it, though it can be awkward and contrived). It seems that many options are not satisfactory for all cases. He/she is useful in a generic sense (Using "he" as a general rule is already out of style and has been, it seems, for a while) say in a sentence such as "If a person is injured, he/she should call for help." but it would not work for an individual sense (ie. you are referring to one person, but not revealing the person's gender). Likewise, singular "they" (for example "every person has their own problems to worry about") can be acceptable to some grammar snobs but not others. Still, it has the same problem if it comes to going down to the individual level (if I want to say "my friend lost their dog" without saying if it's "his dog" or "her dog", it still sounds a bit odd).

[Ol' Wanderer]

When I first learned French, then when I first leaned English, then when I first learned Italian, and then when I first learned Spanish, it was drilled to me in every language class that never would "their" (plural) be a correct possessive pronoun for "every person" (singular).

None of those languages is my mother tongue, and I make so many errors in writing, especially in English, but never would I use "their" for "every person."

I have yet to run into a situation when I would speak/write about a specific individual while hiding his/her gender, but when I speak/write about a universal individual, I simply use "one's" as possessive pronoun for "one." That, also, was drilled into me in every language class and I have no reason to deviate from what I believe is a solid rule.

[shawarma]

I actually found some funny gender-neutral pronouns. These are recent coinages and not at all widespread, but they are funny:

Hie, hem, hiz
Sie, hir
Ze, hir
Zie, zir

I found this on one of those dreaded furry websites, where they use these for hermaphrodite characters. But I guess they could work on neuters. I don't agree at all with the whole furry fandom, but the pronouns sure are entertaining!

"What's wrong with zir? Oh, zie has a migraine headache."

[harry chickpea]

Just think of every individual as a potential multiple personality. I've used "they" for years. Snobs can look down their noses all they want.

[Neutre]

I don't have this problem in my native language, which linguistically has no gender distinction.

In English what I sometimes use is/are:
"they is"
"s|he"

[wscottling]

I've used "they" as a gender neutral pronoun forever and have hardly ever run into problems with it. As long as you make your verbs agree, you're fine. Yes, it takes some creativity, but that's what writing is all about - creativity. It's much better than he/she IMHO and making up stupid (also MHO) pronouns no one else uses.

[lovecda]

I find myself using the plural "they" where grammatically appropriate. I also use "people" and "individuals" a lot. However, when it becomes necessary I'll use the phrase "he or she." I used to use the masculine (he/him) to denote a generic person, but was broken of that habit at University when some professors would mark papers down for each instance of using language that wasn't gender-neutral.

I suppose going gender-neutral for the sentence "My friend lost (his/her) dog," I'd use something like:

My friend lost a dog.
My friend's dog is lost.
My friend's dog ran away

Something to that effect. However, since I would be referring to a known individual, I would probably use that person's gender for clarity. "My friend lost her dog."

[harry chickpea]

Originally Posted by lovecda

I find myself using the plural "they" where grammatically appropriate. I also use "people" and "individuals" a lot. However, when it becomes necessary I'll use the phrase "he or she." I used to use the masculine (he/him) to denote a generic person, but was broken of that habit at University when some professors would mark papers down for each instance of using language that wasn't gender-neutral.

I suppose going gender-neutral for the sentence "My friend lost (his/her) dog," I'd use something like:

My friend lost a dog.
My friend's dog is lost.
My friend's dog ran away

Something to that effect. However, since I would be referring to a known individual, I would probably use that person's gender for clarity. "My friend lost her dog."

Being pedantic, wouldn't that be - "My friend lost her bittch."

[wscottling]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

Being pedantic, wouldn't that be - "My friend lost her bittch."

Only if the dog is female too.

[harry chickpea]

True. I've always found gender obsession in language to be odd. My point was that it can be taken to ludicrous extremes, like having to indicate the sex of an animal, or define a machine as male or female. We once had a neighbor who defined all cats as female. That confused our Tom to no end.

The feminists were correct in that gender specificity is often a way of enforcing sexism. Someone developing a language could just as easily develop age stages as important declensions. The properties of people, animals, and mechanicals change as they age. Arguably, such differences are even more important than gender.