Quote:
Originally Posted by queenbu  Can't we say 'we mean that the persons we are talking about tackle their problems directly and are not worried about any risks involved.'? |
The problem with replacement is that, well, for example,
persons is as odd-sounding as
their, wouldn't you agree? Why about,
people or
speakers?
Another method, to add to mykwyner's post, and the one, I believe, preferred by more than a few teachers these days, is to rework the entire sentence by re-evaluating what it is you're trying to express to your audience. In this way, gender doesn't become an issue for the reader or the listener. For example, and in no particular order:
1.
Speakers who use this idiom are talking about tackling
their problems....
2. This idiom means to tackle
your problems....
This issue has been around for a very long time. Way back when, in graduate school, I joked about writing a paper on this very topic. I was going to call it
"ee", pronounced [i:], a parody on a new pronoun for he/she.
No matter
how you switch the pronouns around, be it he/she (which isn't accepted by everyone: "she" follows "he") or she/he and s/he (which aren't accepted by everyone: they sound odd. "She" before "he"? And how do you pronounce s/he?). I suggested we get rid of those offending consonants. Thus: e/e, and since the slash (/) was no longer required, do away with that as well. Thus:
ee. Then all we had to do was find an advertising company to sell it to speakers.
My point at the time, who's the authority here, my grammar book (he) or my professors (he/she & she/he, s/he)? Which pronoun set do I use in my thesis!
Thank the powers that be that someone out there realised we don't have to buy into
their issue. Our generation has a slightly different take on what it means to be egalitarian and equitable: Make gender a non-issue. Reword the sentence.
What do I teach my students? Exactly what you just read.