Previously, we wrote about the importance of using gender-free language in our writing—not only to avoid excluding groups of people, but also to let the reader concentrate on what we’re saying, not how we’re saying it. There are many ways to offend people—whether it’s women, people with health issues, or entire races—and it’s important to be aware of the language we use in our writing to avoid being insensitive.

Gender Bias and the Singular “They”

If you are talking about a population of people of both sexes, do not alienate one gender by using pronouns that are either male or female. When we know the gender of a group, it’s easy:

            The Girl Scouts convened at noon, and each girl had her speech ready.

But if the gender of the group isn’t quite so clear, things get a little tricky. Consider the following variations: 

1. When the volunteers showed up, each felt their heart sink at the terrible sight.
2. When the volunteers showed up, each felt his or her heart sink at the terrible sight.
3. When they arrived the volunteers felt heartsick at the terrible sight.

Sentence #1 is technically incorrect, as “their” is plural yet refers to a singular indefinite pronoun (“each”). This is common in speech, but the written word comes under closer scrutiny, and many grammarians insist that this usage is not only incorrect, but unacceptable. Using the singular “they/their” has, however, become more commonplace in modern literature and is not unheard of in historical literature—and many predict that this practice will one day be considered correct and standard form.

Sentence #2 is correct, but, if overused, this technique becomes tiresome very quickly.

Sentence #3 is also correct and eliminates the gender issue altogether.

If you’re serious about writing with sensitivity, avoid loaded words such as mankind, postman, and fireman, and watch out for occupational stereotypes, such as assuming that all kindergarten teachers are women or all police officers are men.

For specific examples of how to fix gender-biased sentences, see The Use of Gender-Neutral Language in Your Writing from our previous blog post.

Other Sensitive Areas:

Country of Origin and/or Race

It is extremely offensive to make sweeping generalities about an entire race or nationality, so be careful how you describe your characters, and avoid stereotypes of any kind.

Sexual Orientation

A person’s sexual orientation should be brought to attention only if it is a relevant part of your story. If your poem is about the prejudice faced by a gay couple, then certainly their sexual orientation is relevant. Saying “The man who took our order was obviously a homosexual” could be construed as offensive if the man’s sexuality has nothing at all to do with the story.

Religion

This can be a very sensitive area. If you view a particular religion as fanatical or cultlike, refrain from describing it as such. Your readers could be mightily offended—and rightly so.

Knock It Off with the Fat Jokes

Not much else to say. Just don’t participate.

There is an exception to all of this. If you are trying to show what a donkey’s behind your character is, feel free to employ all these methods and offend away—as long as it’s clear your character is the insensitive lunkhead, not you.

Picture this: several men and women are gathered in a living room, animatedly discussing a televison program. Soon the discussion turns heated, and an argument erupts, each person shouting to be heard above the others. Finally, a woman at the far side of the room throws up her hands in exasperation and says, "Why can’t we all just agree to disagree?"

This is a scenario that is probably familiar to most of us—people don’t always agree with each other, and that’s okay. However, pronouns don’t have the same freedom; they must always agree with the word or words they refer to.

Fortunately, this is not as complicated as it may sound. The basic rule governing pronouns is that they have to agree with the word or words they refer to in both number and gender. Simply put, agreeing in number means that if the word is plural, the pronoun should also be plural; if the word is singular, the pronoun should be singular as well. Let’s look at a couple of examples:

1. The man in the blue suit pushed his way through the train’s closing doors. (The singular pronoun his agrees with the singular noun man.)

2. When the final bell rang, the children ran to their school buses. (The plural pronoun their agrees with the plural noun children.)

Now let’s look at gender agreement. Agreement in gender simply means that if the word is feminine (like the name Alice), the pronoun should be feminine, and if the word is masculine (like the word boy), the pronoun should be masculine. If the word has no gender (like the word chair) the pronoun should also be genderless (it, its, they, their). In the examples above, not only do the pronouns agree in number, but they agree in gender as well. In the first sentence, the pronoun his agrees with the masculine noun man, and in the second sentence, their is the appropriate pronoun since the plural noun children can refer to a group of boys, girls, or a mix of boys and girls. Here are a few more examples:

3. The trees lost their leaves at the same time each year. (The plural pronoun their agrees with the genderless noun trees.)

4. Rachel always insists on watching her family’s home movies. (The singular pronoun her agrees with the feminine noun Rachel.)

5. The jury reached its verdict. (The singular pronoun its agrees with the genderless singular noun jury. Note: Jury is a collective noun, a noun that is considered to be singular even though it refers to a group of people or things. Other collective nouns include team, committee, and class.)

Easy, right? Well, as with everything in English grammar, there are some tricky areas. Just remember the following rules, and you’ll never have a problem with pronoun agreement.

1. Pronouns that are always singular include anybody, anyone, anything, each, each one, either, every, everybody, everyone, everything, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, one, somebody, someone, and something.

Example: Each of the boys passed his math test.

2. Pronouns that are always plural include many, few, several, and both.

Example: Many of the poets at the conference read their new poems.

3. Pronouns that can be either singular or plural, depending on the noun they refer to, include all, none, any, some, more, and most.

Example: Some of the participants brought their lunch. (In this sentence, the pronoun some refers to the plural noun participants, so the plural pronoun their is correct.)

Example: Some of Jill’s poetry has been published, and it is available in the local bookstore. (Here, some refers to the singular noun poetry, so the singular pronoun it is correct.)

Understanding and using these basic rules will help you to write sentences in which the pronouns always agree. Now if only we could say the same about people!

http://www.writersrelief.com/
Author’s Submission Service Since 1994