Non gender-specific pronoun

[timtom]

The current mandate to avoid gender-specific language has effected a curious "blind alley" in sentence structure. Consider the following:

"The savvy executive will be ever mindful of ________ obligation to _____ subordinates."

We are challenged to use "his/her", or else restructure the sentence in a byzantine manner.

I propose that we use the third person plural as an easy solution. It is, of course, grammatically incorrect, but oh, so convenient.

viz. "The savvy executive will be ever mindful of their obligation to their subordinates."

This is sort of an afterthought to another thread in this forum about a replacement for the word "gal".

[HopeHoops]

1. Wench?

:hide:

[phasma ex machina]

3. Ho'? . . . ho, ho, ho . . . ('tis the season you know) ROTFL nt

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. ~

The savvy executive will be ever mindful of all obligations to subordinates."

[phasma ex machina]

5. +1 Best solution.

Yet another (inferior) solution:

The savvy executive will be ever mindful of their obligation to their subordinates.

[gmoney]

4. or just go to "its"

I know "it" implies "not people," but maybe that's a compromise that would make more sense than confusing plural pronouns.

[Orrex]

7. I don't think that'll work

If people don't care to be subsumed under another pronoun's gender, I don't suspect that anyone will be eager to be referred to as an it, either.

[Chan790]

9. So let's create a new gender non-spef. pronoun.

I suggest "Chan".

"The savvy executive will be ever mindful of chan obligation to chan subordinates."

[Orrex]

6. Although I used to resist the "everyone get their books" construction...

I have come to believe that it's the most natural evolution along these lines, certainly greatly preferable to any artificial "neuter" pronoun we might create. Even the whole singular/plural dichotomy isn't a big deal, because people can handle the singular/plural "you" without much difficulty.

Anyway, the dames like it better that way.

[Chan790]

8. Do not get me started on plural "you".

I'm becoming increasingly convinced of the inferiority of the English language as a communication medium simply because so many of us want to fight like mad to not adopt the natural linguistic truth that it should be "you all", "yous", "youse" or "y'all" rather than "you". We're like the only language that does this.

There is a reason why most languages conjugate plural and singular 2nd persons differently...and I'm pretty sure it's the same reason that I've found Southerners and Brooklynites learn Latin more easily than the rest of y'all....because the plural 2nd person should not be "you".

[Odin2005]

10. I just use singlular "their", it has a very old history.

[KG]

11. 'one's'

[Chan790]

12. How socialistic, comrade.

I do approve.

[Lex]

13. Exactly. Easy, peasy. nt

[Gormy Cuss]

14. +1

That would be the way I'd handle it.

[pitohui]

15. this is pretty damn easy to re-write, no byzantine required

what the hell is wrong with "savvy executives will be ever mindful of their obligations..."

people make this harder than it has to be, and not for any sensible reason i can see

[timtom]

16. I didn't take time to think of a more byzantine example.

Believe me, they exist.

[KamaAina]

17. Tim Leary used "hir"

and traced it back to Chaucer to boot.

The next sentence is even easier: "If s/he does this, s/he will be on the road to success". But of course male chauvinists don't like that because "she" comes first.

[Brickbat]

18. Pluralization solves a lot of problems and helps reduce word count.

I highly recommend it.

[Richardo]

21. I think this is the least cumbersome solution.

"Savvy executives will be ever mindful of their obligations to their subordinates."

[madinmaryland]

19. "The savvy executive will be ever mindful of having no obligation to the lowly subordinates."

FUCKERS!

[noamnety]

20. Here's what the American Psychological Association says:

"Avoid Gendered Pronouns

While you should always be clear about the sex identity of your participants (if you conducted an experiment), so that gender differences are obvious, you should not use gender terms when they aren't necessary. In other words, you should not use "he," "his" or "men" as generic terms applying to both sexes.

(snip)

To avoid the bias of using gendered pronouns:

Rephrase the sentence

Use plural nouns or plural pronouns - this way you can use "they" or "their"

Replace the pronoun with an article - instead of "his," use "the"

Drop the pronoun - many sentences sound fine if you just omit the troublesome "his" from the sentence

Replace the pronoun with a noun such as "person," "individual," "child," "researcher," etc.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/14/

[timtom]

22. Thanks.

One of my cherished resources.

However...there will come a time when we shall be forced into using a singular noun. That's why I posted this.

By the way, here's another powerful resource, if you haven't already seen it:

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/