The He, She and They of Article Writing: Are You Pronoun Gender Biased?

When you are writing a great news story, or a biography of a particular person it is necessary to refer to the main character as he, she or some other gender specific term. Generally speaking, though, the reader does not care if you are referring to a male or female police officer, flight attendant or store clerk.

Are You Gender Biased?

If you are talking about doctors or lawyers, for example, you do not have to establish whether they are male or female, unless you have actually named someone in your article. For example, Doctor Judy Smith clearly tells your reader that this doctor is female. It is acceptable to then refer to the doctor as her or she.

Sometimes a writer can be gender biased simply because of terms they are use to using or hearing. If your personal physician is a female, you may find yourself writing an article and referring to a doctor as she or her.

Your mind is relating to the fact that the doctor you know best is female. You are use to referring to the doctor as she, so you may make a habit of turning any generic doctor you write about into a female. If a reader is use to their own doctor being a male, they will not relate as well to your article.

I personally write a lot of articles about pets. I find that I insist on referring to dogs in general as he or him. Why? Simply because I happen to have a male Shih Tzu and that is how my mind thinks in terms of dogs. It is a hard habit to break even though I am aware that I need to make the dogs in my articles somehow become gender neutral.

Learn to Substitute Gender Neutral Pronouns

I have read some articles that tell you it is fine to switch between using he/him and her/she. According to the Yahoo Style Guide, using the phrase his /her or he/she makes your sentence appear awkward. It can even be confusing for the reader to follow along with. It appears that you can not make up your mind on the person's gender.

Changing your sentence to reflect the plural usage will save you from sounding awkward, and should allow your sentence to flow more smoothly. For example:

Awkward: Each applicant should bring his or her resume.
Better: Each applicant should bring their resume.

Changing a pronoun to the plural will help alleviate being gender specific. It will also help you avoid taking the easy way out by adding both him and her to your sentence.

Avoiding Gender Specific Terms

Instead of using gender specific words such as waitress, stewardess or even coat check girl, try to stick with less biased generic terms. When writing a restaurant review, do not use words like waitress or waiter. Use a more neutral word such as wait staff or server.

Using proper pronouns when they are appropriate and finding less gender specific words when you need them will enhance your writing so that it will appeal to a wider group of readers.

If you have identified the specific gender early in your article by quoting a name such as Julie Smith, or Doug Jones, your reader has already established their gender. They will expect Julie to be referred to as she or her, while Doug becomes him or he.

To learn even more do's and don'ts of gender specific web writing visit the brand new Yahoo! Style Guide on the web. It is a must read for anyone who is or who plans to become a web writer.

http://styleguide.yahoo.com/writing/be-inclusive-write-world/write-gender-neutral-copy