"gender neutral pronouns"

[Ivo Romein]

Gender-inclusive or gender-neutral language has to (or should have to) do with avoiding or minimizing the emphasis on the gender of a human being or group of human beings. 

It is hard to imagine why any publishing house would apply such a policy to institutions or countries in the way you describe. A 'house-style' should---in my humble opinion---not interfere with a tradition as old as Russia herself, namely to refer to her as 'her'.

Ivo Romein (editor of slavic studies)








-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [mailto:SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Robert Chandler
Sent: 2008年9月4日 16:11
To: SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU
Subject: [SEELANGS] "gender neutral pronouns"

Dear all,

I¹m curious to know how people react to the following sentence:
³Pushkin was both Russia¹s greatest poet and its first great historian.²

It is by me, as changed, against my wishes, by one of my editors.  To my ear, it grates horribly.  I would prefer Œher first great historian¹.
Apparently ³house style¹ favours ³gender-neutral pronouns².

Am I being silly, sentimental, old-fashioned, sexist...?  Does anyone else feel strongly, either way, about this?

Best Wishes,

Robert 

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