PC vs. euphemism

[Emily Johnson]

Actually the style manuals used in many first-year college compositions  
courses now recommend exactly such a usage--

"When a person experiences loss, they/their..."

The students in our classes are being taught that this is the preferred  
form and the best way of achieving gender neutrality.  Often the style  
manuals cite similar examples dating back to the eighteenth  
century--often by very well-known writers.

It grates my ear as well, but many composition programs are encouraging  
it.

On Saturday, March 29, 2008, at 09:03  PM, Emily Saunders wrote:

> If I may also note, to the probable horror of strict grammarians,
> there has been a growing tendency to use the third person plural
> pronoun when referring to a single individual of undetermined gender.
> If a person wished to be succinct (avoid the awkward "his or her") and
> yet indicate that the gender could go either way, "they" might
> consider the 3rd person plural.  Another example of language and
> attitudes sorting themselves out and evolving?  Perhaps, in time,
> "they" will be acceptable and even recommended in college level essays
> as a genderless 3rd person singular pronoun...?
>
> Maybe.
>
> Regards,
>
> Emily Saunders
>
> On Mar 29, 2008, at 7:43 PM, Genevra Gerhart wrote:
>
>> 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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>>
>>
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Dr. Emily Johnson
Associate Professor
Dept. of Modern Languages, Literatures & Linguistics
University of Oklahoma
780 Van Vleet Oval, Room 206
Norman, OK 73019
phone: (405) 325-1486

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