Gender-Neutral and Inclusive Pronouns
Posted on Saturday, December 28, 2019 at 8:34 PM
Getting up to speed on gender-inclusive writing.
By
Denise Gable
Language is fluid. Grammar shifts and changes
over time. Merriam-Webster’s named “they” -- the singular pronoun to use
for a “person whose gender identity is nonbinary” -- as their 2019 word
of the year. Although most consider it good practice to write in
gender-neutral terms, adopting gender-neutral pronouns can be awkard and
confusing.
Many publications are deciding how best to incorporate
gender-neutral language into their publications. Depending on your
audience, you may have already addressed this in your style guide and
with your staff. The Society for Editing (ACES), the Chicago Manual of
Style, and the Associated Press have all updated their style guides to
include the use of "they," "them," and "their" as acceptable in limited
cases as a singular or gender-neutral pronoun when alternative wording
is overly awkward or clumsy. We asked editors to weigh in on how they
were handling the use of gender-neutral and inclusive pronouns.
Google
Trends shows an overall increase in the use of the word "they" from 2004
to the present. It began around 2007. The exact cause is unclear.
--Cathy
Brown, executive editor, Psychiatric News: "We still use 'he or
she.' I know it's becoming more acceptable to use 'they' as singular,
but to me such usage sounds uneducated and lazy. Just because styles
change due to popular usage doesn't mean that we should abandon grammar
rules that have served us quite well to reflect the language of refined
communication and clarity."
--Dan Markham, senior editor, Metal
Center News: "We don't use the single 'they.' We use he or she when
applicable, which isn't often. Why? Our readers are pretty old. I'd be
up for a new pronoun that covers gender ambiguity, but I'd rather not
use a plural pronoun to do it."
--Deborah Lockridge,
editor-in-chief, Heavy Duty Trucking: "Is this just a general
grammar question, or are we getting into the issue of non-binary
pronouns?"
--C.G. Masi, cgmasi.com: "Most of my current
writing is for outlets that explicitly require APA style, so it makes
sense to start with their recommendations, then include my preferences
based on experience with both academic and more informal journalistic
writing styles. The sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association devotes a substantial section to
reducing gender bias in language. The clearest statement summarizing
their position is that 'replacing "he" with "he or she" or "she or he"
should be done sparingly because the repetition can become tiresome.
Combination forms such as "he/she" or "(s)he" are awkward and
distracting. Alternating between "he" and "she" may also be
distracting.' The Manual editors recommend avoiding the whole
problem by recasting the sentence to remove the need for the
gender-specific pronoun entirely. They give an example of such a
revision of the sentence 'A researcher must apply for "his" grant by
September 1' to 'A researcher must apply for "the" grant by September 1.'
"Generally,
I find the Manual's recommendations on this topic to be extremely
useful. In short, informal pieces, such as discussion-group postings, I
like to use the combination forms 'he/she' or '(s)he' depending on
cadence of the paragraph. The other forms seem annoyingly contrived,
more distracting, and harder to fit into the language flow. In longer,
more formal pieces, where first and second person are to be avoided
anyway, carefully crafting the entire paragraph to avoid the situation
is best. In cases specifying a certain person, I always use the
appropriate gender-specific pronoun, which opens a whole 'nother can of
worms for transgender individuals!"
--Dave Zoia, editorial
director, WardsAuto: "We've begun to allow it. It eliminates
gender issues and avoids using cumbersome 'he and/or she'–type
references. It's the way people talk, and we often had that usage in
direct quotes anyway, so it's not that much of a stretch to apply it
outside of direct quotes."
--Curtis Phillips, senior
technical editor, Wine Business Monthly: "We tend to allow all
forms with a slight preference for 'they' when referring to corporate
entities and alternating between he and she when referring to
individuals, but we realize that the singular 'they" has been a part of
the English language for so long (since the 14th century, if I'm not
mistaken) that it's futile to try to edit it out in all instances.
"Personally,
I use 'one' when I can even though I realize that this comes across as
stiff and formal. One would rather be formal than inadvertently imply
that half the population doesn't exist. I would prefer it if English had
a third-person singular pronoun with undefined gender, and without the
non-person connotations of 'it,' but all attempts in that direction
(s/he, ae, e, ey, per, ve, xe, fae) fail to enter common usage. Maybe
the recognition of non-binary gender will change things. One doubts that
it will.
"While we are at it, should we bring back the dual
pronouns wit, uncer, unc, incer, incite, and inc?"
--Curt
Harler, curtharler.com: "I'm a freelancer. In the only instance where
this was an issue, we simply referred to the individual by last name
throughout (e.g., 'Smith said,' 'Smith did such-and-such,' etc., per
style). It eliminated any issues of grammar or of political correctness.
My personal opinion is that 'they' is plural. If anyone wants to be
referred to by a special pronoun, they should coin one and not co-opt
one."
--Dave Fusaro, editor-in-chief, Food Processing:
"We have not moved to the 'they' just to be gender-neutral. Most of the
time, we're quoting people, and we know their gender, at least by name
and/or visual appearance. If a gender-neutral person ever were to ask us
to use 'they' for him/her, we certainly would. It just hasn't come up.
If we use it as second reference, we usually alternate between he's and
she's: 'When a consumer looks for x she probably wants x. If he doesn't
find his brand, he'll buy another.' One area that I am beginning to cave
in on is using 'they' in second reference to a company. Although
technically correct, 'it' has always seemed awkward, and it's not the
way people talk, is it? E.g., 'Superior Farms Lamb is a leading
processor of lamb in this country and they have developed...'"
--Heidi
Richards Mooney, publisher, We Magazine for Women: "We alternate
depending on the context. We use 'he or she' when the topic lends itself
to more specific gender and 'they' if the topic is more gender-neutral
or when speaking about a group rather than an individual."
--Angela
Hartley, senior managing editor, JOGNN: "In the updated 7th
edition of Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association, the APA endorsed the singular 'they,' 'consistent with
inclusive language.' The JOGNN editors discussed this change at
length and agreed that an individual's preferred pronouns should and
would be respected and used as appropriate for the given context in JOGNN
articles. This includes the use of the singular they. We were already
doing this when the APA change was announced. However, we do not
interpret this guidance to mean that all instances of singular pronouns
should be replaced with they, them, or their universally in every
article. Such a change would result in sentences that are grammatically
incorrect, illogical, and difficult to read. Unless context indicates
otherwise, we use 'she' or 'he' and will continue to do so. We encourage
authors to use inclusive language that is free from bias and to apply
common sense and rules of grammar.
"Although I feel it is a good
suggestion, I believe that this guidance from the APA will be
misinterpreted and then misused. I've already gotten questions such as,
'Why did you use her or him in the newsletter if APA says to use they?'
This was in reference to reviewers: 'Do you have a colleague with
publication experience who would like to review for JOGNN? Please
have her or him send us a CV.' My response was, 'The singular they was
not needed or appropriate in this context.' For the sake of good
writing, I hope that common sense prevails and that other editors take
this approach as well."
--Leslie Block, managing editor, Nursing
Education Perspectives: "I never use 'they' as singular. That would
be wrong. Also, I try very hard through editing to avoid he-she. Most
often I try to use plurals so they would be correct. The singular 'they'
is a lazy construction."
Dear Amy advice columnist Amy
Dickinson, commenting on the new "they" usage, says, "It’s time to get
used to it." Maybe or maybe not, depending upon your audience.
Denise
Gable is managing editor of Editors Only.
Add
your comment.
Posted in (RSS)