The person ... she!

[Ducklet Cat]

And one day we will look back with pride and faith at the journey we have taken
pitiful is the person who is afraid of taking risks, perhaps this person will never be disappointed or disillusioned; perhaps she wont suffer the way people do when they have a dream to follow. but when that person looks back - and some point everybody looks back - she will hear heart saying , " what have you done with the miracles that God planted in your days? what have you done with the talents that God bestowed on you? you have buried yourself in a cave because you were fearful of...

This is a text by Paulo Coelho (translated in to English).
Why did the translator kept saying "she" when he refers to an undefinable person?

I noticed that too in an article about teaching swimming to children, the writer kept referring to the child as "she" although the article was general.

Is that a trend in English? Feminine pronoun is used to refer to an unknown person?

Thanks.

[SoothingDave]

Some people take offense to English grammar and therefore some other people use feminine pronouns, alternate male and female, or use ineloquent formulations like "he or she" in order to not give offense.

[Ducklet Cat]

I see. Thanks.
Is there a unanimous rule for that?

I notice the combination of he/she, and also the use of she alone.
But rarely did I run into the use of "he" alone.
Is that "political correctness" and avoiding offences going to far to the point of being discriminator against men? :)

I wonder.

[riquecohen]

My guess would be that since the word person in Portuguese (pessoa) is feminine, subsequent mentions of pessoa would be with the pronoun ela (she.) If so, it may have been the translator´s choice to render it literally.

However, this doesn´t account for the use of she in the article on swimming.

[SoothingDave]

I see. Thanks.
Is there a unanimous rule for that?

I notice the combination of he/she, and also the use of she alone.
But rarely did I run into the use of "he" alone.
Is that "political correctness" and avoiding offences going to far to the point of being discriminator against men? :)

I wonder.

No there is no rule for it. As you mention, it is what we call "political correctness." How much someone wants to display their "correctness" is a personal thing.

[masuas]

I think riquecohen could be right in what he said.
The pronoun referring " a pessoa" ( la persona) is feminine, the same in Spanish as in Portuguese. I am not too familiar with the passage, but, perhaps somewhere there's a female subject being brought to the present of the thought in question.

[Ducklet Cat]

Thanks all.
That's interesting to know that about Portuguese. And I can't blame the translator in this case who case to be too faithful to the original text. :)