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kedzie@rand.org)
A policy analyst addresses his or her colleague for grammatical
advice
regarding a gender-neutral pronoun for the circumstances in
which the human
subject at issue is either hypothetical, unknown or
intentionally
disguised.
trend is to
substitute "she" in cases where one in the past would likely
have used a
generic "he."
roles and
is left
unsatisfied.
discrimination
can be just as noxious, imprecise and connotation-laden.
However, s/he
admits that cumbersome contrivances, combinations and
alternations only
further obfuscate his/her attempts to communicate clearly.
When
the policy
analyst tries to use nouns to avoid the pronoun dilemma, the
policy
analyst's writing becomes repetitious and dull.
It is
analyst
(such as economic principles, statistical techniques, behavioral
science
theories, etc.) can be pernicious when it overstates, confuses
or
inaccurately reports the extent of the available information.
Thus, what
the policy analyst needs - as does the English language - is a
gender-neutral third person animate singular pronoun.
As a metaphor for what would be right in any policy debate, a
good place to
start this discussion would be in the search for the common
ground.
As
A lower
A simple e, however,
dangling in a
sentence appears powerless and vulnerable.
It has a meek
presence no more
commanding than that of a certain common article.
Capitalization, though,
could give an E backbone and teeth.
elevated to
the stature of the first person singular pronoun, "I."
Following the much
criticized "Me Generation," an E Generation would be a good
thing - to
encode the "Golden Rule" into English grammar - to treat others
(at least
in writing) as we treat ourselves.
pronoun would
suggest that everyone deserves the respect we traditionally have
reserved
for ourselves, including and especially those people whose
demographic
character is not known to us.
venerate God
without ascribing gender.
each one of
us.
In speaking, "E" slides of the tongue since it sounds familiar
to the
pronouns we are comfortable using.
variable,
such as X or Y, which we are accustomed to substituting for
unknowns.
For
The
potentially confusing contracted form with the verb of being and
the
possessive form would follow the model of the third person
inanimate
pronoun: it's and its, respectively.
under the
sun.
One potential risk of a discussion such as this parallels that
of many
current policy debates.
may divert
attention from real social problem-solving to vocabulary window
dressing.
Too often, if one doesn't know what to do about an issue, for
instance,
access for the handicapped population, E may take moral refuge
in the claim
that E is using the "right" term, such as disabled, physically
challenged,
differently-abled, or whatever is the most current "pc" vogue.
Similar
semantic distractions occur in the debates about race,
nationality, class,
profession, etc.
from the
other linguistic inventions in three salient ways.
First, instead of emphasizing the differences of our identities
and
potentially exacerbating the differences of our perceptions, the
essence of
"E" is equality.
The new
pronoun celebrates the distinctions between genders by
identifying those
instances in which the differences are not relevant.
Currently,
the
absence of a generic third person singular pronoun contributes
to
divisiveness while simultaneously blurring distinction between
the genders.
Either pronoun can be, and is, used to refer to a person of
either gender,
whereas "E" could also stand for "either."
pronoun when we
really mean "either" would enable the old pronouns to retain
their precise
meanings.
would mean
"she" free of misinterpretation, with E as a recognized option.
Second,
substitute
on the menu of usable words.
additional word
choice to be served when appropriate without shortening the list
of today's
alternatives.
"she,"
"E," and "it," whichever would impart the most complete and
accurate
information.
vilified for
being insensitive to gender issues or un-pc.
Third, while subtle, the suggested change goes to the
philosophic heart of
the language.
superficial
letter shuffling.
Adjectives in
Romance
languages betray the gender of the modified noun, even for
sexless objects
such as table and chair.
Russian,
the gender of the subject is reflected in the verb.
And.
incidentally,
Hebrew does not use capitalization.
person singular
seems a rather peculiar audacity of the English language.
It
was as if we
thought, as individuals, we were more important than everyone
else.
Even
Does
this imply
that if I include you in my group, "we" together are less
significant than
"I" was alone?
However,
in other
languages, other pronouns are capitalized.
It is common, for
example in
German,
Again, it is an issue of
respect.
Also, in Russian, there is a precedence for a grammatical
distinction
between animate and inanimate forms.
as E does.
However, this aesthetic alteration, as yet, lacks a compelling
justification such as overcoming explicit gender biases of the
currently
available third person animate singular pronoun options.