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Message: <blockquote data-quote="woodelf" data-source="post: 2897203" data-attributes="member: 10201">My personal test? I've never heard a woman complain that 'she' was jarring, while i've heard plenty of men complain. This, to me, makes me think it's just shoe-on-the-other-foot syndrome, which, further, means that all the claims that 'he' is generic are bogus. IOW, every time 'generic' she throws you, assume that [some] women have the same reaction to 'generic' he, and then ask yourself if using he/him/his as the default pronouns is such a great idea--especially in a hobby that apparently fails to attract women in the same numbers as it does men.And you'll find all sorts of reputable sources listing they/them/their as legitimate, grammatically-correct, third-person singular pronouns. And even more listing them as acceptable third-person singular pronouns.That said, i think that the best solutions are (1) invent a gender-neutral third-person singular pronoun--pressing they/them/their into service would qualify-- or (2) alternate, either randomly, or with some sort of pattern (WWGS books have long used female pronouns when referring to GMs and male pronouns when referring to players, frex). Of course, the downside of using any existing pronoun in this manner (and this goes for 'he', 'she', and 'they' equally, IMHO) is the confusion that can arise over when a generic person is being referenced, and when a specific person is being referenced. Good writing can avoid most of this, but not all. So, really, a new word that has no meaning other than as a third-person gender-neutral singular pronoun would really be the best way to go. But probably not going to happen.Oh, and on generic-she as a pronoun: in some of my writing, i use it exclusively. Had one person nearly throw the book down in disgust, and give me one heck of a tongue-lashing over that. But once he got over the initial shock, it seems to have receded into the background. He's since become the game's biggest fan. So i think there's reason to believe that 'she' could be thoroughly genericized in discourse, at least to the degree that 'he' has been, if we wanted it to be--mind you, i'm not yet convinced that 'he' is anywhere near as free of gender connotations as most supporters claim.</blockquote>

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