By the 18th century, the modern, narrow sense of man was firmly established as the predominant one. When Edmund Burke, writing of the French Revolution, used men in the old, inclusive way, he took pains to spell out his meaning: "Such a deplorable havoc is made in the minds of men (both sexes) in France. . . ." Thomas Jefferson did not make the same distinction in declaring that "all men are created equal" and "governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." In a time when women, having no vote, could neither give nor withhold consent, Jefferson had to be using the word men in its principal sense of "males," and it probably never occurred to him that anyone would think otherwise. Looking at modern dictionaries indicate that the definition that links "man" with males is the predominant one. Studies of college students and school children indicate that even when the broad definitions of "man" and "men" are taught, they tend to conjure up images of male people only. We would never use the sentence "A girl grows up to be a man," because we assume the narrower definition of the word man. The examples below seem disconcerting precisely for this reason:
*"Development of the Uterus in Rats, Guinea Pigs, and Men" (title of a research report)
*"The Pap test, which has greatly reduced mortality from uterine cancer, is a boon to mankind."
Even when authors insist that "man" is a general term of all humans, they can lapse into meaning it as a term for only males:
*"As for man, he is no different from the rest. His back aches, he ruptures easily, his women have difficulties in childbirth . . . "
*In James Baldwin's essay "Stranger in the Village" Baldwin refers to "white men" and "black men" (seemingly generic terms), but then he eventually refers to "that peculiar, intent, paranoiac malevolence which one sometimes surprises in the eyes of American white men when, out walking with their Sunday girl, they see a Negro male approach."
Once you've started to recognize the problems that can arise with using "man" as a generic pronoun, how can you prevent confusion? One way is by substituting "human," "humankind," "people," or another word that does not involve any specific gender.
"He" started to be used as a generic pronoun by grammarians who were trying to change a long-established tradition of using they as a singular pronoun. In 1850 an Act of Parliament gave official sanction to the recently invented concept of the "generic" he. In the language used in acts of Parliament, the new law said, "words importing the masculine gender shall be deemed and taken to include females." Although similar language in contracts and other legal documents subsequently helped reinforce this grammatical edict in all English-speaking countries, it was often conveniently ignored. In 1879, for example, a move to admit female physicians to the all-male Massachusetts Medical society was effectively blocked on the grounds that the society's by-laws describing membership used the pronoun he.
Just as "man" is not truly generic in the 1990s, "he" is not a true generic pronoun. Studies have confirmed that most people understand "he" to refer to men only. Sentences like "A doctor is a busy person; he must be able to balance a million obligations at once" imply that all doctors are men. Imagine what it would be like if we were to continue reading: "A doctor is a busy person; he must be able to balance a million obligations at once. Dr. Jones is no exceptionÑa clinic to run, medical students to supervise, and a husband with polio." In this context, the realization that Dr. Jones is a woman comes as a surprise to many readers. To push the point further, check out this sentence: "The average American needs the small routines of getting ready for work. As he shaves or blow-dries his hair or pulls on his panty hose, he is easing himself by small stages into the demands of the day." The first image that comes to mind is a transvestite, not the average American woman. As a result of the fact that "he" is read by many as a masculine pronoun, many people, especially women, have come to feel that the generic pronouns excludes women. This means that more and more people find the use of such a pronoun problematic.
He or She--Despite the charge of clumsiness, double-pronoun constructions have made a comeback: "To be black in this country is simply too pervasive an experience for any writer to omit from her or his work," wrote Samuel R. Delany. Overuse of this solution can be awkward, however.
Pluralizing--A writer can often recast material in the plural. For instance, instead of "As he advances in his program, the medical student has increasing opportunities for clinical work," try "As they advance in their program, medical students have increasing opportunities for clinical work."
Eliminating Pronouns--Avoid having to use pronouns at all; instead of "a first grader can feed and dress himself," you could write, "a first grader can eat and get dressed without assistance."
Further Alternatives--he/she or s/he, using one instead of he, or using a new generic pronoun (thon, co, E, tey, hesh, hir).
Examples taken from Sarah Werner, and *The Handbook of Nonsexist Writing* by Casey Miller and Kate Swift (New York: Lippincott, 1988)
Examples Alternatives
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mankind humanity, people, human beings
man's achievements human achievements
the best man for the job the best person for the job
man-made synthetic, manufactured, machine-made
the common man the average person, ordinary people
man the stockroom staff the stockroom
nine man-hours nine staff-hours
Examples Alternatives
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chairman coordinator (of a committee or
department), moderator (of a
meeting), presiding officer, head,
chair
businessman business executive
fireman firefighter
mailman mail carrier
steward and stewardess flight attendant
policeman and policewoman police officer
congressman congressional representative
Example Alternative
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Give each student his paper as Give students their papers as soon
soon as he is finished. as they are finished.
Example Alternative
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The average student is worried The average student is worried
about his grades. about grades.
Example Alternative
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If the student was satisfied with A student who was satisfied with her
his performance on the pretest, he or his performance on the pretest took
took the post-test. the post-test.
d. Alternate male and female examples and expressions. (Be careful not to confuse the reader.)
Example Alternative
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Let each student participate. Has Let each student participate. Has
he had a chance to talk? Could he she had a chance to talk? Could he
feel left out? feel left out?
Example Alternative
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Anyone who wants to go to the Anyone who wants to go to the game
game should bring his money should bring their money tomorrow.
tomorrow.