Illinois bans male pronoun

[Dennis Baron]

It's the season for banning.  And there's a new post about banning  
male pronouns on the Web of Language:

"The University of Illinois has banned the male pronoun.  Starting  
Jan. 2, 2007, all print and web-based publications, whether for  
audiences inside or outside the university, must follow the rules  
laid out in the style guide published by the university’s Office of  
Public Affairs.  And in the section on nonsexist language, the style  
guide tells us:

Avoid gender-specific language such as the use of a male pronoun.

There it is in plain English: we may no longer refer to anyone’s  
gender specifically. . . . "

Read more about what's wrong with style guides at the Web of Language:

or paste this URL into your browser:

http://www.uiuc.edu/goto/weboflanguage

Happy (nonsectarian) holidays.

DB


Dennis Baron
Professor of English and Linguistics
Department of English
University of Illinois
608 S. Wright St.
Urbana, IL 61801

office: 217-244-0568
fax: 217-333-4321

www.uiuc.edu/goto/debaron

read the Web of Language:
www.uiuc.edu/goto/weboflanguage

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org