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Those Dastardly Indefinite Pronouns
I am tired of writing he or she, his or hers. It's just awkward, and when a paragraph or sentence contains several indefinite pronouns, it sounds downright silly after the third or fourth repetition. Why do we do this? We are trying to tell the truth using a language that was designed to reinforce the lie, and it's going to take more than patching up with this linguistic band-aid. Although up to the very recent past, I have capitulated to this politically correct invasion upon my prose, from now on, starting May the twenty-third, two thousand thirteen, I will just say she or her. Let male writers say he or his and be done with it. Our writing will flow oh-so-much smoother.
Now some folks will have a problem with this. I propose that said folks take the same energy they would use to browbeat me and use it to create a gender-neutral indefinite pronoun. Why not? What constitutes a word anyway? Words aren't words by divine right. They aren't passed down from the gods. How did the words laser and internet work their way into the English lexicon? Is a word anything more than a string of phonemes that a significant number of people has decided to use to symbolize some concept, thing or action? If so, what constitutes a significant number? Or is there an esoteric council that must canonize said string of phonemes? If so, how do we bring this matter to their attention in a way they cannot ignore?
Am I the only writer who is tired of saying he or she? Are there other writers who would be willing to help create and use a gender-neutral indefinite pronoun?
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