As we embark on this, the final week of Women’s History Month 2017, I thought I’d share a small, but significant victory for those of us fighting sexism on the grammatical front.
But whether you’re a grammar devotee or casual observer (for shame), take note.
Grammatically correct drumroll, please…
“He” is no longer considered a gender-neutral pronoun!
If you’re not excited by this, you may not be a grammar nerd who grew up wondering how in the world the male pronoun is “gender-neutral.” It’s just not. “He” is male. Defaulting to male when no gender is specified is not being neutral, it’s favoring the male gender. It’s an illogical pronoun nightmare that is no more…at least if you live your life by the AP Stylebook, which has officially made the shift (along with some other changes, but none of them are as exciting as this one).
But wait, there’s more. Those of us who were perturbed by the sexist pronoun rule skirted around it by using the lengthy, but less sexist “she or he.” No more! Use “they” in the singular to your heart’s content, you grammatical soldiers you. They (being the AP in this case) won’t stop you!
And if after all that fanfare, you’re wondering why all this “grammar stuff” even matters, I’ll direct you to the court case decided by a comma:
NPR: The Oxford Comma: Great For Listing, Pontificating, And Winning Court Cases
What an exciting time to be alive!
…bi-daily smile…
Seeing as it’s also World Theatre Day (and still Women’s History Month, here’s one of my faves, which also happens to feature one of the few (and fierce) all lady creative teams:
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