Gender-neutral writing

Subject: Gender-neutral writing Tue Oct 05, 2010 5:36 pm

Following is the text of a section in the intro to a book I am working on about ventriloquism. How would you like to read something like this in a how-to book?

====================================
Gender, Sex and Insensitivity

One final thing about terminology. Most ventriloquists are men and most ventriloquist dummies are male. During the so-called “golden era” of ventriloquism (Chapter 2) there were many well-known male ventriloquists but only one really famous female, a talented and beautiful vent named Shari Lewis. Another lady vent from that era is Shirley Dinsdale, the fifteen-year-old ventriloquist whose puppet Judy Splinters won the first Emmy ever awarded; her award was in the category, Most Outstanding Television Personality. Dinsdale never achieved the fame that Lewis did, and so the public is mostly unaware of her. But more and more women are taking up the art nowadays.

In this book I might seem to be ignoring the ladies when I use masculine gender pronouns to refer to ventriloquists and their dummies. Not so. First, the politically correct phrases, “he or she,” “his or her,” and so on, are awkward to write and cumbersome to read. Second, they are unnecessary; the masculine gender in formal English writing has always been used to circumscribe all people without regard to their sex. The English language has not evolved to include singular gender-neutral pronouns, probably because political correctness is a relatively young posture when compared to our centuries old social culture.

Here is what E.B. White says about so-called gender-neutral writing.

“The use of he as a pronoun for nouns embracing both genders is a simple, practical convention rooted in the beginnings of the English language. He has lost all suggestion of maleness in these circumstances.”

There is concern among some social commentators, particularly feminists, that exclusive use of masculine gender reflects and engenders socio-economic biases against their constituency, members of the female sex. They worry that little girls, reading only male pronouns, come to feel subordinated and disenfranchised, whereas little boys come to believe in male superiority.

Certainly such feelings can exist between the sexes, but they are hardly the product only of masculine gender in writing. If such problems are real and such concerns valid, we do not adequately address them by reinventing written language. Rather, we properly educate our children about correct English usage and condition them not to get their panties in a bunch about every imagined slight they might encounter in life.

Like it or not, there are certain professions that virtually all people, women included, assume are white male-dominated. If you talk about your doctor, lawyer or English professor, for example, people subconsciously assume that the person you are discussing is a white male unless you specifically identify the sex and ethnic origin of your doctor, lawyer or English professor. Similarly, if you tell a friend that you saw the performance of a ventriloquist, juggler, magician, or comedian, and do not name the performer, your friend mentally pictures a white male as the performer. Such biases do not exist in language; they exist in people. There's not a lot I can do about human nature. Saying “he or she” all the time doesn't change anything.

Another common usage these days is to balance your pronouns equally between the masculine and feminine genders, using “he” in some places and “she” in others. I don't care for that practice either. It calls attention away from the subject matter and to the notions that a social issue exists related to gender in writing and that the writer is ever so politically correct. The writer changes the focus from his message, whatever it is, to some subliminal social commentary.

So, to avoid awkward writing idioms, I use mostly masculine gender for unspecific pronoun references. I do so at the risk of incurring the wrath of those who are more interested in keeping me in line with their causes than they are in learning whatever the book has to teach. I’ll have to take that chance.

If all this troubles you, keep in mind the characteristic role of the ventriloquist dummy as an irreverent commentator who ignores the rules of polite society when it suits him. This socially-imposed gender-neutral sensitivity is exactly the kind of politically correct nonsense with which Charlie McCarthy would have had a field day.

===========================================

Subject: Re: Gender-neutral writing Wed Oct 06, 2010 2:30 am

It's too long and will date eventually. Social mores change. Your explanation places the text in a time period. The first paragraph with a precis of the following paragraphs is sufficient:

One final thing about terminology. Most ventriloquists are men and most ventriloquist dummies are male. During the so-called “golden era” of ventriloquism (Chapter 2) there were many well-known male ventriloquists but only one really famous female, a talented and beautiful vent named Shari Lewis. Another lady vent from that era was Shirley Dinsdale, the fifteen-year-old ventriloquist whose puppet Judy Splinters won the first Emmy ever awarded; her award was in the category, Most Outstanding Television Personality. Dinsdale never achieved the fame that Lewis did, and so the public is mostly unaware of her. But more and more women are taking up the art nowadays.

In this book, to avoid cumbersome gender terminology, the masculine pronoun will encompass both “he" and she,” (and “his" and "her” likewise).

Just my opinion.

Subject: Re: Gender-neutral writing Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:04 am

Thanks, Shelagh, for the insights. You're right about the length. This is first draft, and my writing usually shrinks by at least 50% in the rewrite. Usually more.

With respect to the social statement dating the work, I don't expect political correctness to go away anytime within the shelf life of this work.

Anyway, how many people know that a ventriloquist dummy won the first Emmy? There's a bit of trivia to brighten up an evening at the bar.

Subject: Re: Gender-neutral writing Wed Oct 06, 2010 9:45 am

I think the history, which this explanation is really about, is interesting and definately belongs in a book on the subject. You could segue to why you use the pronoun "him" at the end of it. I agree that using he/she throughout the book would be tedious and distracting.

Subject: Re: Gender-neutral writing Wed Oct 06, 2010 10:03 am

Interesting subject. I think we've all faced this dilemma when writing and not wanting to offend. Too much he/she brings attention to the gender and can be disruptive. Since the English language is constantly changing, perhaps we could invent a neuter word. A writer has that license. Any suggestions?

Subject: Re: Gender-neutral writing Wed Oct 06, 2010 10:11 am

I've always been happy with "he" and regard the feminists as pedantic and, to use Lane's word, silly. We know when "read" is present or past tense and we know when he is being used to represent both sexes. It's just yet more evidence of dumbing down.