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Male authors who prefer using female pronouns
July 26, 2018 at 6:14 pm
I've come across a few textbooks written by male authors, who prefer using female pronouns when they must assign a gender to a fictitious person used to illustrate a point.
As a male, I'm feeling left out.
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RE: Male authors who prefer using female pronouns
July 26, 2018 at 6:19 pm
(This post was last modified: July 26, 2018 at 6:19 pm by Angrboda.)
I've always found the practice obnoxiously self-conscious in a way that draws attention to the issue and thus presents an obstacle to simple reading of the text.
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RE: Male authors who prefer using female pronouns
July 26, 2018 at 6:30 pm
(July 26, 2018 at 6:19 pm)Jörmungandr Wrote: I've always found the practice obnoxiously self-conscious in a way that draws attention to the issue and thus presents an obstacle to simple reading of the text.
If you're assigning a gender to a situation like the one you describe, I'd suggest flip a coin if you care that much about the issue. I'd say heads, the person is male. If tails, make them female. That should be reasonably fair.
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RE: Male authors who prefer using female pronouns
July 26, 2018 at 8:10 pm
(July 26, 2018 at 6:14 pm)Alexmahone Wrote: I've come across a few textbooks written by male authors, who prefer using female pronouns when they must assign a gender to a fictitious person used to illustrate a point.
As a male, I'm feeling left out.
Don't get your panties in a bunch, ya bloody sheila.
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RE: Male authors who prefer using female pronouns
July 29, 2018 at 6:12 pm
(July 26, 2018 at 6:30 pm)Rev. Rye Wrote: (July 26, 2018 at 6:19 pm)Jörmungandr Wrote: I've always found the practice obnoxiously self-conscious in a way that draws attention to the issue and thus presents an obstacle to simple reading of the text.
If you're assigning a gender to a situation like the one you describe, I'd suggest flip a coin if you care that much about the issue. I'd say heads, the person is male. If tails, make them female. That should be reasonably fair.
Why heads as male? I think flipping a coin to decide which gender gets heads should be done first.
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RE: Male authors who prefer using female pronouns
July 29, 2018 at 6:46 pm
(This post was last modified: July 29, 2018 at 7:05 pm by Rev. Rye.)
(July 29, 2018 at 6:12 pm)SaStrike Wrote: (July 26, 2018 at 6:30 pm)Rev. Rye Wrote: If you're assigning a gender to a situation like the one you describe, I'd suggest flip a coin if you care that much about the issue. I'd say heads, the person is male. If tails, make them female. That should be reasonably fair.
Why heads as male? I think flipping a coin to decide which gender gets heads should be done first.
Okay, here's an idea. Apparently, the heavier side of a coin (heads, usually) is slightly more likely to hit the ground, making it about 51/49. By an extraordinary coincidence, that's actually close to the ratio of male to female in the world's population. Give the females the lighter side (tails, if the heads side is heavier) for the little extra edge that reflects the actual incidence of the genders.
And look, I just reconstructed the heads is male, tails is female idea, and created a rationale that explains it with statistics, and even makes it reflect the slightly larger number of women than men. And the damnedest thing? I didn't even actually set out to do so when I first hit "reply." I remembered that there was a slight edge about a regular coin that can skew the odds slightly, and since it said that the heavier side of a penny is the heads side, casing it to land slightly more often tails side up. If there are coins with a heavier tails side (the research I found didn't bother with other coins), feel free to change it to reflect that.
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RE: Male authors who prefer using female pronouns
July 29, 2018 at 10:01 pm
(This post was last modified: July 29, 2018 at 10:01 pm by SteelCurtain.)
(July 26, 2018 at 6:14 pm)Alexmahone Wrote: I've come across a few textbooks written by male authors, who prefer using female pronouns when they must assign a gender to a fictitious person used to illustrate a point.
As a male, I'm feeling left out.
You'll be okay sweetheart.
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RE: Male authors who prefer using female pronouns
November 5, 2020 at 6:31 pm
(July 26, 2018 at 6:19 pm)Angrboda Wrote: I've always found the practice obnoxiously self-conscious in a way that draws attention to the issue and thus presents an obstacle to simple reading of the text.
I feel the same!
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RE: Male authors who prefer using female pronouns
November 6, 2020 at 12:54 am
(November 5, 2020 at 6:31 pm)Dundee Wrote: (July 26, 2018 at 6:19 pm)Angrboda Wrote: I've always found the practice obnoxiously self-conscious in a way that draws attention to the issue and thus presents an obstacle to simple reading of the text.
I feel the same!
STOP reviving old threads
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RE: Male authors who prefer using female pronouns
December 21, 2020 at 2:08 pm
(July 26, 2018 at 6:14 pm)Alexmahone Wrote: I've come across a few textbooks written by male authors, who prefer using female pronouns when they must assign a gender to a fictitious person used to illustrate a point.
As a male, I'm feeling left out.
As with all books and writers, everyone has their own insights and opinions.
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