After knowing them for a while I start to see that they are just full of it. This has happened multiple times that I find there is a strong inverse correlation between the amount of talk someone does and the amount they actually get done.
it's a very good article, but i sure wish he had picked a different title.
If you know of a non-pedantic way to write and be gender neutral, I'm interested. "He/she" is really annoying to read. I sometimes use "their" as a replacement for "his or her", although it's not grammatically correct. Any better ideas?
Maybe a legal disclaimer at the end of the blog stating that any use of "he" can be replaced by "she" (kind of like a a great constitutional amendment to pass).
PS: note that the use of "Mr. Right" seems to imply that the original founder is a woman, so that startup would be 50/50, not bad considering today's reality.
Just use "he." No, hear me out.
I hope it's fairly obvious that "language is usage is language." Given that, one could very well keep using the plural pronoun as neuter[1], and, if it gains enough popularity, it will be grammatically "correct."
An alternative is to continue using the traditional neuter pronoun, which is also the male one. My disruptive proposal is to use it for all situations, especially when the antecedent is obviously female. Don't have separate pronouns for the sexes, and all pronouns become neutral automatically.
Another alternative is to use the pronoun "one." It may be awkward, especially with echoes of the passive voice, but, for me at least, it's more comfortable than hijacking a plural pronoun to use in the singular.
A final alternative is to use "it," but, besides a potential for being derogatory, it carries a significant risk of injecting confusion about what or who is the antecedent.
Disclaimer: I am male.
[1] I'm not entirely comfortable with "gender-neutral", since I'm aware, as I'm sure the OP is, that there are non-English languages that have a concept of word gender separate from sex. My first language, Russian, even has a neuter gender, so even that's not entirely satisfying a word.
