Editor's Corner

Today’s blurb is about gender-specific pronouns. This can be tough when writing because people try to avoid it and end up using “their” as a pronoun to describe one person, even though “their” is plural. For example, “The driver forgot to use their signal.” You may be avoiding “his” or “hers,” but you’re committing a grammar crime to do it. The following information is from the Purdue OWL (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/14/), though it borrows heavily from the American Psychological Association (APA) style guide.

To avoid using gender-specific terms or generic terms (“he,” “his,” “men”) for both sexes:

APA does not recommend replacing "he" with "he or she," "she or he," "he/she," "(s)he," "s/he," or alternating between "he" and "she" because these substitutions are awkward and can distract the reader from the point you are trying to make. The pronouns "he" or "she" inevitably cause the reader to think of only that gender, which may not be what you intend. [KC – Our goal for eDocs is to avoid any of these substitutions, too, by following the advice below.]

To avoid the bias of using gendered pronouns:

· Rephrase the sentence

· Use plural nouns or plural pronouns – this way you can use "they" or "their"

· Replace the pronoun with an article – instead of "his," use "the"

· Drop the pronoun – many sentences sound fine if you just omit the troublesome "his" from the sentence

· Replace the pronoun with a noun such as "person," "individual," "child," "researcher," etc.

· [KC – Use active voice and second person when appropriate. Such as, “Your credit union may require that
you verify this with the administrator.”]

Kara Church | Senior Technical Editor

Symitar, A Jack Henry Company

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123