Co-worker editing documents with "(s)he" to just "he" about generic people

w06

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

Abolish the pronoun altogether and use an abbreviation for the job title, eg



The following roles are designated parts of the quality assurance process:

TI = Teapot Inspector
MOD = Manager on Duty

if TI finds a defect, TI must raise it with MOD or if TI is unable to contact MOD then TI must ...

that kind of abbreviation drives me potty (i'm dyslexic) but is very common.

trailingspouse

You need to push back on this.

Does it matter? On one level maybe not - but on another (more important) level, it most certainly does. As you say, this document now contains sexist language. If it doesn't matter whether or not you use 'he' or '(s)he' or 'they', then it doesn't matter if you use '(s)he' or 'they' instead of 'he'. Personally I prefer 'they' - it's perfectly acceptable as a replacement for the singular 'she' or 'he'. The people who find it awkward are probably the same people who noticed that I'd put 'she' before 'he' in that last sentence. How very dare I.

Does 'he' include 'she'? That's what we've been told for forever - but we also know that he just means he, and thus excludes the female.

Please take a look at The Everyday Sexism Project
everydaysexism.com

Teapot55

This is very interesting: http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2012/06/he-or-she-versus-they/

I used to think until very recently that using 'they' in place of he/she was grammatically incorrect. This could be argued (but see the link above). However, he/she is a bit cumbersome. Also, if there is a person who is transgender, indeterminate sex etc., it is much kinder to have 'they', which covers all eventualities without drawing attention to itself.

becominganobsessivesaver

Teapot55 wrote: »

This is very interesting: http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2012/06/he-or-she-versus-they/

I used to think until very recently that using 'they' in place of he/she was grammatically incorrect. This could be argued (but see the link above). However, he/she is a bit cumbersome. Also, if there is a person who is transgender, indeterminate sex etc., it is much kinder to have 'they', which covers all eventualities without drawing attention to itself.

Teapot55 I think your view should top all others given it (s)he/he/they will be inspecting you!

duchy

As the listed author of the document and that you clearly feel gender neutral language is appropriate and keeps the company on the right side of gender legislation bearing in mind these documents are not just for use today but also in the future when the company may also have female inspectors it is probably worth taking it to your line manager for clarification.

theoretica

I don't like (s)he as the brackets break up the text. In formal writing I will usually go for the full 'he or she' which reads better to me, despite being longer, or use titles or the passive case to reduce the number of occasions it is needed.

getmore4less

Seriously.....

there is a saying in the work place.

"Pick your battles"

This is not a battle you want to play at this time.

if you want/need to address the gender issue in documents then pick another time when document structure etc. is being discussed you may need to initiate but aim to cover more than just this issue.

If not happy with the peer review process then again that can be discussed in a more general context than picking up on this instance.

What does the document that covers document review say about how changes should be made?


you could avoid the singular/plural issue by going plural.

"The teapot inspectors must.......they"

or just substitute the title as suggested earlier to not only gender neutralise but depersonalse completely.

"if the Teapot Inspector finds a defect, (s)he must raise it with the Manager on duty or if (s)he is unable to contact the Manager then... blah blah blah"

becomes

"If a defect is found the Inspector must raise it with the Manager on duty.
If the Manager on Duty is unavailable then... blah blah blah"


These sort of document don't need the fluffy prose simple logic trees suffice, could even go one step further and do a flow diagram.

trailingspouse

getmore4less wrote: »

Seriously.....

there is a saying in the work place.

"Pick your battles"

This is not a battle you want to play at this time.

In other words, don't trouble your pretty little head about it...

bugslet

trailingspouse wrote: »

You need to push back on this.

Does it matter? On one level maybe not - but on another (more important) level, it most certainly does. As you say, this document now contains sexist language. If it doesn't matter whether or not you use 'he' or '(s)he' or 'they', then it doesn't matter if you use '(s)he' or 'they' instead of 'he'. Personally I prefer 'they' - it's perfectly acceptable as a replacement for the singular 'she' or 'he'. The people who find it awkward are probably the same people who noticed that I'd put 'she' before 'he' in that last sentence. How very dare I.

Does 'he' include 'she'? That's what we've been told for forever - but we also know that he just means he, and thus excludes the female.

Please take a look at The Everyday Sexism Project
everydaysexism.com

I really don't mind. The s/he thing is just lumpy to read to me and I just don't care. I don't think it's sexist. Use all shes or hes, I' don't care, it's just when I read it, I mentally read she he and it's lumpy.

sangie595

I am usually the first one on the battle lines about sexism. And I agree with the OP about the language. But.... Get over it. This is not about what is the right language and what isn't. There is no rule or law. Fortunately, because if there were the law concerned would have some interminable clause about he referring to he or she, unless it related to..... You get my drift?

The issue here is simple. Does the OP get into a battle with a senior member of staff over this? The answer is no. This is a matter for judgement. The OPs judgement is to not use gender specific language. Great, I agree. The senior member of staff doesn't. If they have the final say, then they have the say. If you want to have a battle with them, pick an issue that is worth having. Regardless of everything, the OP clearly had issues with the fact that this person was induced to stay - if you want to see how powerful language is as a tool, look at the words that the OP chooses to use about them, and it is clear that they dislike them and the manager intensely. Whether warranted out not.

The "correct" answer is the one that the most senior person decides is correct. Don't fight over small potatoes.