How to Avoid, and Teach Avoidance of, Gender Bias and Awkwardness in Writing

Writing teachers and others,

"The Word of the Year 2015 from the Australian National Dictionary Centre...went by a landslide to they, the gender-neutral singular pronoun, often used when the speaker doesn’t know the gender of the person being referred to, but also more recently as a conscious choice by a person who rejects the traditional gender binary of he and she. After years of controversy the usage is at last becoming widely accepted— late last year Oxford Dictionaries had it as one of their runner-up words of the year and Bill Walsh, the style editor of the Washington Post , officially adopted it for his newspaper." (From World Wide Words,  copyright © Michael Quinion 1996-2016. All rights reserved. http://www.worldwidewords.org )

I am trying to adopt the use of "they" instead of using "he/she," "s/he," or "she or he." For example, instead of writing "When I work with this kind of student, he or she...." I would instead write, "When I work with these kinds of students, they..."  I also try to use "they" in this way: "When someone tries to change a writing practice, they feel uncomfortable at first, but less so they more they use the new practice."

As a writer or writing teacher how do you avoid, and teach avoidance of, both gender bias and awkwardness in writing?

David J. Rosen

djrosen123@gmail.com

 

Comments

I love the question, David, and look forward to some suggestions from others here. Thanks.

Would alternating between "history" to "herstory" be an example of gender awareness? :)))  I know that in writing occupationally-based curricula, I make a point of  sporadically referring to nurses as "he" and "engineers" or "mechanics" as she. Excellent topic! Leecy

As a learner, teacher, facilitator, presenter, teacher of writing et al, and student, I have regularly taught/suggested/employed the use of plurals to avoid the appearance of bias, awkwardness, and sexism.