Avoiding Male-Only pronouns

The English language tends to take masculinity as the norm: The basic word for something often connotes maleness, while femaleness must be specially elucidated. (Consider the very name for our spe­cies: Man.) For writers trying to avoid this type of bias, the most challenging parts of speech to work around are personal pronouns. Grammatically, it is correct to use he and him to refer to an individual of unspecified sex, yet an increasing number of people of both sexes see this as inappropriate and excluding. How many men would feel they were being personally included in writing that used only female pronouns?

Attitudes have certainly changed on this, in both popular opinion and style guides. William Strunk, Jr., and E.B. White, authors of the classic The Elements of Style (first published in 1935 and still revered today for its commonsense advice on clear expression), had this to say on the matter:

The use of "he" as a pronoun for nouns embracing both genders is a simple, practical convention rooted in the beginnings of the English language. "He" has lost all sug­gestion of maleness in these circumstances.... It has no pejorative connotation; it is never incorrect.

Many modern readers would not agree. An example of the turn in thinking can be found in the 1976 update of Dr. Benjamin Spock's best-selling Baby and Child Care, where he states in a foreword:

The main reason for this [revision] is to eliminate the sexist biases of the sort that help to create and perpetuate discrimination against girls and women. Earlier editions referred to the child of indeterminate sex as "he". Though this in one sense is only a literary tradition, it, like many other traditions, implies that the masculine sex has some kind of priority.

Feeling that he is inappropriate when applied to both sexes is one thing; finding a graceful alternative is another. Strunk and White raised some valid objections when they went on to say:

Substituting he or she in its place.... often doesn't work, if only because repetition makes it sound boring or silly.... The furor recently raised about "he" would be more impressive if there were a handy substitute for the word. Unfortunately, there isn't – or at least, no one has come up with one yet. If you think "she" is a handy substi­tute for "he," try it and see what happens. Alternatively, put all controversial nouns in the plural and avoid the choice of sex altogether, and you may find your prose sounding general and diffuse as a result.

Clearly, the "recently raised" furor hasn't gone away, but neither has anyone come up yet with a handy substitute. (For some reason, "shim" hasn't caught on.) The challenge, therefore, is to find less handy substitutes. These sometimes take a bit of ingenuity but, if successful, allow you to work around the problem without your read­ers even noticing. The pros and cons of various strategies are discussed below.

USING HE/SHE, S/HE, OR THEY

The solutions that are the easiest to apply are also the least likely to please: putting down he/she or s/he, or using they as a singular pronoun. The first two are jarring; the third ungrammatical. All three seem like cop-outs (as if you couldn't take the trouble to come up with a more imaginative strategy) and draw attention a bit too loudly to the fact that you're enlightened enough not to use all-male pronouns.

Certainly, there are some contexts where these forms are appro­priate. In speech, everyone uses they when sex is unknown or irrelevant (someone left this Jan letter for you, but they didn't sign it). It sounds natural and easy and carries no ambiguity. Still, stricter standards must apply in writing, and you can't ignore the fact that grammatically, they refers to more than one individual. Some people argue strongly for extending its acceptability as a singular pronoun into writing as well, but until this officially happens, you run the risk of having your more fastidious readers thinking you just don't know any better. A sentence such as the following looks outright sloppy, if not ambiguous:

Response to the new version of the program has been favorable; one customer, for example, said that they doubled their productivity within the first week.

Also keep in mind that the indefinite pronouns each, every, anybody, etc., are singular, so cannot be grammatically combined with they. The following sentences are incorrect:

Each student must hand in their own lab report.

Every guest was given a name tag when they arrived.

He/she and his/her are often viewed as acceptable in less formal writing, but be aware that they become tedious if overused. The non-word s/he, however, has little to recommend it other than its efficiency. (How would you pronounce it?)

USING HE OR SHE

The expression he or she (along with him or her and his or hers) is an excellent solution when used sparingly, working its way into sentences in a manner that looks easy and uncontrived. The key word, however, is sparingly. It becomes clumsy and annoying with repetition and looks positively dreadful if used more than once within a single sentence. Any reader would find the following distracting:

The clinician can play an important role on the research team. He or she is invaluable in gathering physical data from his or her patients, and equally useful is his or her role in gathering subjective data based on his or her impressions and feelings.

There isn't a "magic number" of how often is too often for these expressions; certainly, a few appearances in a large document is unobtrusive. If the need arises frequently, however, it is best to vary he or she with other strategies.

Note: Some writers like to vary this expression as she or he, and there is no logical reason why the female pronoun shouldn't come first. Realistically though, since this phrasing isn't standard, it is likely to cause momentary distraction or annoyance on the part of some of your readers. If you recognize and accept that, then by all means go with the variation! Perhaps if enough people do, it will eventually become standard as well.

ALTERNATING HE AND SHE

In some genres of writing it works well to change about half the occurrences of he to she. This strategy can be applied to made-up scenarios or case histories, where the reference is to a single individ­ual and a female example would fit in just as naturally as a male one.

It works less well if the reference is to a group or population. For example, in the following, it would be difficult for readers to assume that men are included:

The survey indicated that the average newspaper reader prefers her news in a concise form. Every worker we spoke to says that she fears for her future and that of her family.

USING THE PLURAL

Going with the plural form instead of the singular is a simple and effective strategy if the context is in fact referring to more than one person. For example:

INSTEAD OF: We asked each participant to speak openly about his feelings. WORD IT AS: We asked all participants to speak openly about their feelings.

This strategy is very popular and often works smoothly and unob­trusively, but should be avoided if the plural sounds contrived or unlikely. There are many cases where a plural rather than a singular noun simply would not convey the same sense, particularly if you wish to emphasize the individuality of the actions under discussion. Bear in mind the caution about your words coming through as "general and diffuse." And, as discussed previously, don't try to get around the issue by using they as a singular pronoun.

USING THE INDEFINITE PRONOUN ONE

In some circumstances, one can substitute one for he. The use of this pronoun usually carries an implication that the writer and reader belong to the same group or share some relevant characteristic or interest; in a sense, it conveys the idea of "you or I." For example, as a writer, one could work it into a book addressing other writers. (Is one making oneself clear?) Thus, for instance, in an article aimed at physicians,

INSTEAD OF: Clinical judgment involves the physician making use of his experience, as well as his knowledge of the particular patient.

WORD IT AS: Clinical judgment involves making use of one's experience, as well as one's knowledge of the particular patient.

This approach is usually inappropriate if the intended readers would not be able to relate to the group or activity under discussion. Also, overuse of "one" can make your writing sound a bit stuffy.

USING THE SECOND PERSON

In certain types of writing, you can use you in order to avoid the third person – as here. This form is appropriate for genres that address the reader directly, such as instruction manuals. For example:

INSTEAD OF: The reader should familiarize himself with these terms

before proceeding.

WORD IT AS: Familiarize yourself with these terms before proceeding.

Obviously you cannot use this strategy if your text is not speaking directly to the reader.

USING THE PASSIVE VOICE

Consider using the passive voice in order to avoid pronouns alto­gether. You want to be cautious with this strategy – the passive voice carries the risk of making sentences clumsy or ambiguous – but it can sometimes work well.

INSTEAD OF: The advantage of making the surgeon responsible for acquiring the research data is that he often requires it in any case for clinical purposes.

WORD IT AS: The advantage of making the surgeon responsible for acquiring the research data is that this information is often required in any case for clinical purposes.

AVOIDING PRONOUNS

It is often possible to find a way of wording a sentence that eliminates the need for a pronoun, while staying in the active voice. This is often the neatest and least jarring solution. Consider the following examples:

INSTEAD OF: A psychiatrist may ethically obtain research data from his patients, but his main objective must remain that of attending to their needs.

WORD IT AS: A psychiatrist may ethically obtain research data from patients, but must not lose sight of the main objective of attending to their needs.

INSTEAD OF: The bashful writer is reluctant to come right out and state his position firmly.

WORD IT AS: The bashful writer is reluctant to come right out and take a firm position.

Sometimes it may be difficult to capture exactly the meaning you want without using a pronoun. Naturally, your meaning must take precedence over style. In sum, there is no single strategy that will work for all situations, and it is usually best not to use a single strategy throughout. With some effort and imagination, however, you can write around the gender problem in a way that should leave none of your readers alienated.

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