Avoiding Gender-Exclusive Pronouns

There was a time when the masculine pronoun he was used to refer to a person in general. The problem with this, it was eventually discovered, is that half of the persons in general are not hes. Preferring he over she or his over her when choosing a pronoun for a person of unknown sex may be perceived as sexual discrimination, even when unintentional.

The problem with pronoun use is that a pronoun must agree with its subject. A sentence with a singular subject, such as An officer in the sample sentence below, requires a singular pronoun when the subject is referred to: he, his, him, she, or her. A problem arises because these personal pronouns in English are gendered.

An officer's first priority is to ensure that his soldiers are ready for war.

Habitual use of the masculine pronoun in such cases does not reflect the fact that professional officers in the Canadian military—and soldiers and sailors and pilots—are both male and female. Careful writers avoid the subtle discrimination that occurs with the generic use of the masculine pronouns he and his.

Here are three good ways to revise a sentence such as this that uses a gender-exclusive pronoun:

• Make the subject plural

  Officers should make it their first priority to ensure that their soldiers are ready for war.

• Use masculine and feminine pronouns together

  An officer's first priority is to ensure that his or her soldiers are ready for war.

• Alter the structure of the sentence to avoid pronoun use altogether

  Ensuring that soldiers are ready for war should be the first priority of an officer.