Dear Colleagues, Why don't we just get rid of the pronouns all together with, "Kid growing and becoming a juvenile, that kid must pay"? FWIW, Christopher Davis, MLS Systems & E-Services Librarian Uintah County Library cgdavis@uintah.utah.gov (435) 789-0091 ext.261 uintahlibrary.org basinlibraries.org facebook.com/uintahcountylibrary instagram.com/uintahcountylibrary On Wed, Apr 19, 2017 at 10:56 AM, Eric Phetteplace <ephetteplace@cca.edu> wrote:
Hi Paul,
English has a singular "they". It doesn't suggest androgyny, either, from the definitions I've seen. For instance, Oxford English Dictionary:
2. In anaphoric reference to a singular noun or pronoun of undetermined gender: he or she.
The first usage example OED provides is from 1375. I don't think replacing "he" with "she" addresses the problem, it's still assuming a default gender. It's not too much tricker to search code for he/him & replace with they/them but that's also just an implementation issue, not a policy one.
It sounds like people are otherwise supportive but I'm not sure what the next step should be.
Best, Eric Phetteplace Systems Librarian California College of the Arts libraries.cca.edu | vault.cca.edu 510.594.3660 2>/dev/null
On Wed, Apr 19, 2017 at 8:42 AM, Paul A <paul.a@navalmarinearchive.com> wrote:
On 2017-04-18 08:25 PM, Eric Phetteplace wrote:
Hi list,
I opened bug
[snip]
Before*:*
"Kid growing and become a juvenile, he should pay "
After:
"Kid growing and become a juvenile, they should pay "
Political correctness has never been my strong point (although I try to understand it), but I'm proficient in grammatical rigour. [1]
"Kid" is a singular noun, "a" is a singular article -- "they" is a plural pronoun. Perhaps replace "they" with "[s]he"? or "Kids growing and becoming juveniles, they should pay"?
From a code maintenance p.o.v., it's easier to find and replace 'he' with '[s]he' if really this becomes a priority for Koha.
Best -- Paul
[1] I am aware of the so-called "singular third person epicene 'they'", but academically object to it -- it often suggests androgyny rather than gender neutrality.
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