PC vs. euphemism

[Genevra Gerhart]

Ladies and gentlemen: (If you will pardon the expression),

Alina said:  There are PC elements that some older generation people find
objectionable, such as "his or her" instead of "his" referring to some
unknown person, and some similar substitutions where the reference to ANY
person was traditionally in masculine gender.

Quite right:  I am old, and I do find "his or her" offensive. Just "his"
used to be enough to indicate both sexes, and as we know, brevity is better.
But the reason should be made clear: these long "euphemisms" are and have
been used, _especially in the academic community_ especially among deans and
above, to demonstrate their PC-ness to either hide or to sugar-coat an
intention not to hire or promote a female of the species.  (I have actually
heard of someone's using this device to avoid doing the unthinkable.)

My argument is that it is not the language that rules (as some would make us
think), but life itself. What we must change is the life part, and language
will change meaning with us. 

Genevra Gerhart
 
ggerhart at comcast.net
 
www.genevragerhart.com
www.russiancommonknowledge.com
 

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