A B C of Gender
At a time which now seems long ago, it was the rule in English that one would employ the masculine pronoun when he wrote a sentence where the gender was indefinite, as in the present sentence.
But then somebody pointed out, appropriately enough, that the rule was a stark instance of gender bias.
Consequently, as is eminently human, things got silly. Writers came up with two different solutions for the gender bias problem. One was a resort to reverse discrimination. It switched the bias from masculine to feminine. The writer—male or female—would apply the feminine at her every opportunity. The other solution was a resort to bad grammar. A writer would use the plural when they wrote a sentence like the present one.
The problem remains; it’s a small challenge for intelligence, and an intelligent solution readily suggests itself, as follows:
If the writer is male, he applies the masculine.
If the writer is female, she applies the feminine.
The rule is plain and it’s perfectly gender neutral. The present writer could do no better than to apply it himself.
thomas@discoveringyourintelligence.com