Generic he/him: Difference between revisions
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Generic "he" / "him" is a convention in English followed by some people who adhere to formal rules of English grammar propounded in the late 19th / early 20th century. These norms were established by sexist grammarians, who were recognizing some preexisting sexist conventions, and establishing new ones. People before, during, and since have used other forms, such as "singular they". In the mid-late 20th century feminists observed the problems with these constructions, and critiqued such uses, reclaiming "singular they" and developing new experimental constructions ("[[per]]"). In a political backlash against feminist criticism, some people have become staunch defenders of obscure grammatical rules they would otherwise not have ever cared about. | Generic "he" / "him" is a convention in English followed by some people who adhere to formal rules of English grammar propounded in the late 19th / early 20th century. These norms were established by sexist grammarians, who were recognizing some preexisting sexist conventions, and establishing new ones. People before, during, and since have used other forms, such as "singular they". In the mid-late 20th century feminists observed the problems with these constructions, and critiqued such uses, reclaiming "singular they" and developing new experimental constructions ("[[per]]"). In a political backlash against feminist criticism, some people have become staunch defenders of obscure grammatical rules they would otherwise not have ever cared about. | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Communications, language, linguistics]] | ||
Latest revision as of 06:04, 11 February 2009
Generic "he" / "him" is a convention in English followed by some people who adhere to formal rules of English grammar propounded in the late 19th / early 20th century. These norms were established by sexist grammarians, who were recognizing some preexisting sexist conventions, and establishing new ones. People before, during, and since have used other forms, such as "singular they". In the mid-late 20th century feminists observed the problems with these constructions, and critiqued such uses, reclaiming "singular they" and developing new experimental constructions ("per"). In a political backlash against feminist criticism, some people have become staunch defenders of obscure grammatical rules they would otherwise not have ever cared about.