galt

I have a stupid idea, but I just thought of it because I was writing and I encountered that annoying problem again of whether you write she or he. I wrote, "The person below me thinks of himself/herself as an American." Now, I did not know whether the person is a male or female. I detest sentences like this, because it looks awkward the way I wrote it; it's hard to read, distracting, and confusing.
The problem is, English doesn't have a gender-neutral prepostion, as most other languages do. So, this is my idea: a gender-neutral word should be invented! Just make it up! Yeah, every writer encouters this dilemma occasionally, so I think people would start using it! What do you think? How about eesh, neither he nor she? I'll try it in a sentence: A student must work hard so eesh can get good grades. There, that was better than A student must work hard so s/he or she/he or he/she can get good grades, wasn't it?
I don't know, what do you think? Can you think of a good gender-neutral word?

thedarkboots

INTERESTING!

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Kane

A student must work hard to get good grades.

galt

That's true Kane, you can word that particular sentence differently, but there are some constructions that require a she or a he, without knowing the gender. I can't think of one now... but I've come across them before.

stephanie

Exactly. "Student" already refers to he or she.

-Stephanie

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galt

I KNOW! But there are some sentences where you have to use a he or a she!

stephanie

When I wrote my sentence, you were writing yours, so I didn't get to read yours yet. Stay calm...

-Stephanie

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galt

Okay, Stephanie.
Can someone think of a gender-neutral word?

thedarkboots

No

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"A robin redbreast in a cage, puts all heaven in a rage"-William Blake

Hodge

He/she.

galt

Hodge, people already write he/she. The point is to avoid it! It's annoying to write like that - two words and a slash, as if the writer was too indecisive to pick one. It's just distracting to the reader, and it doesn't look good.
Can someone think of a good gender-neutral word? And what do you think of the idea of it?

Kane

I'm a guy, so if I run into an instance where I'm speaking in genereal, I say he, man, him, his... One only needs to do that he/she crap in order to be politically correct, which I go out of my way to avoid.

a15haddad

Your first sentence.

"This person thinks of themself as an American."

You can do something like this almost every time.

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galt

Yeah, I agree with you Kane; I probably shouldn't give into it; it's just that I always hesitate to write "he". Maybe I'm so conditioned to PC talk, I dunno. In fact, before the feminest movement, this wasn't even a problem. It's permeated even the language! You'r right, I'll not empower them anymore. But you know, I think you might have solved my dilemma. Since I'm a female, I'll just use she. And males should just use he. Or, anyone could just use whatever they like! I don't know.
Oh, and a15haddad, that is grammatically incorrect and should be shot on sight. "They" is plural; do not use it where he or she ought to be.

journyman161

The person below me thinks of himself/herself as an American
should be...
The person below me thinks of themself as an American

A student must work hard so eesh can get good grades
should be...
A student must work hard so they can get good grades

Seems normal enough to me, but maybe it's an aussie thing.

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