Gender-specific pronoun
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A language has gender-specific pronouns when personal pronouns have different forms according to the gender of their referents.
The English language has three gender-specific pronouns in the 3rd. person singular, whose declined forms are also gender-specific: he (masculine — generally used for human males), she (feminine — mostly used for female humans), and it (neuter — for objects, abstractions, and most animals). The other English pronouns (I, you, they...) do not make gender distinctions, i.e., they are "gender-neutral".
Notwithstanding this traditional paradigm, each of these three gender-specific pronouns has at times been used in a gender-neutral sense: see "generic usage" below.
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[edit] English gender-specific pronouns
Here's a complete list of the gender-specific pronouns of English and their declined forms, with examples of their use:
| Subject | Object | Possessive Adjective | Possessive Pronoun | Reflexive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | He laughed. | I kissed him. | His leg hurts. | This house is his. | He can support himself. |
| feminine | She laughed. | I kissed her. | Her arm hurts. | This house is hers. | She can support herself. |
| neuter | It is a very nice house. | I have bought it. | Its yard is big. | * | It sells itself. |
*nonexistent
[edit] Ships and countries
Traditionally ships have been referred to using the feminine pronouns (even ships named after men, such as USS Abraham Lincoln), as well as countries and oceans. The origins of this practice are not certain, and it is currently in decline (though more common for ships, particularly in nautical usage, than for countries). In modern English, it can be said that the use of the pronoun "she" to refer to inanimate objects is an optional figure of speech.
In March 2002, the British newspaper Lloyds List announced that it would start referring to all vessels as 'it', but subsequently reversed its decision after receiving letters of protest.
See also:
[edit] Generic usage
Usage of him and his to refer to a generic member of a mixed sex group was prescribed by manuals of style and school textbooks from the early 19th century until around the 1960s. It was called 'generic' or 'universal'.
- The customer brought his purchases to the cashier for checkout.
- In a supermarket, everyone can buy anything he needs.
- When a customer argues, always agree with him.
This may be compared to usage of the word man to humans in general.
- "All men are created equal."
- "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
- "Man cannot live by bread alone."
Gender-specific pronouns were also prescribed when one might presume that most members of some group are the same gender.
- A secretary should keep her temper in check.
- A janitor should respect and listen to his employers.
- Every hairdresser has her own style.
- A junior doctor is at the bottom of his profession.
[edit] Generic use and non-sexist language
Some people feel that this can cause a variety of problems. In particular, many feminists feel that the male pronouns imply a man as referent, which they argue would tend to exclude women unfairly (see sexism).
Recently, some people also use female pronouns in a generic sense, to draw attention to feminist issues. Some authors recommend alternating between the use of the generic male and the generic female, perhaps on a per-chapter basis.
Some people use compound forms to emphasize the possibility of the referent having either sex: such as he or she, him or her, his or her or himself or herself. Any of these forms could be reversed, so as not to imply that males had priority: she or he, her or him, etc. There are also abbreviated forms, such as s/he and him/herself, but most language commentators dismiss them as unpronounceable for everyday speech. As an alternative, gender-neutral pronouns have been proposed.
When a non-specific person is being referred to, especially with indefinite constructions such as "someone," "anyone," "the person who," etc., the use of singular they has a long history, and is becoming increasingly accepted, though some writers still inveigh against it.
[edit] Government usage
It is not unheard of for governments, clubs and other groups to reinterpret sentences like 'every member must take off his shoes before entering the chapel' to mean that therefore female members may not enter the chapel. Indeed, the Persons Case, the legal battle over whether Canadian women counted as legal persons eligible to sit in the Senate, partially turned on such a point.
In 1984 the Minnesota State Legislature ordered that all gender-specific language be removed from the state laws. After two years of work, the rewritten laws were adopted. Only 301 of 20,000 pronouns were feminine. "His" was changed 10,000 times and "he" was changed 6,000 times.
By contrast, the Constitution of Ireland, describes the President of Ireland throughout as 'he', yet the two most recent presidents were women; in 1997, four of the five candidates in the election were women. Efforts in a court case to argue that 'he' excluded women were dismissed by the Irish Supreme Court, which ruled the term 'gender-neutral'.
[edit] Pronouns and the transgendered
In general, MTF and FTM transgendered individuals should be referred to by the gender pronoun appropriate to the gender with which they identify. Some genderqueer or similarly-identified people prefer not to use either he or she, but a different pronoun such as they, zie, or so forth. Drag performers, when in costume, are usually referred to by the gender pronouns for the gender they are performing (for example, drag queens are usually called "she" when in drag).
[edit] Further reading
- Susanne Wagner (2004-07-22). "Gender in English pronouns: Myth and reality" (PDF). Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg.
