Can you share tips for avoiding sexist language in academic writing?
"S/he" is even uglier!
Consistently write about people in the plural: "Computer scientists believe ..."
Do you want to avoid sexist language, or to use gender-neutral language? The two is not the same. In addition, there are certain cases when, i think, a researcher must insist on the use of sexist language. For example, if I write: "As McPaddington (1958) has shown, Man was better equipped to cope with the extremes of temperature than was first thought" it is appropriate to use "Man" if the original words of McPaddington was "Man", and would be an alteration of meaning if you use "people" or "human beings" instead. The same is true for every other "sexist" words & expressions found in previous writings.
you ca also refer to the persons by their titles for example the teacher did....the doctor... , the farmer.. etc. Avoid the he/she business in your writing unless your writing has any bearing on gender issue.
"S/he" is even uglier!
Consistently write about people in the plural: "Computer scientists believe ..."
I guess we rarely see She/He..I have never seen somebody using She/he in academic papers/reports..
Sadly, Google Scholar shows many instances of the ugly construct: "he/she".
Why not alternate between “he /she” and “she/he” just like some authors alternate between “he” an “she” … It seems to be more natural than some so called “gender neutral pronouns”: ze, zir…..and things alike.
Can't we use "they" instead? I know it's not grammatically correct, but I think it is leagues better than the he/she or s/he alternatives.
I recommen to use " we" or "In this paper is ". for example: I would like to tell that I found something. "we found" is possible to use generally. I use it if the paper has two or more authors :-) .
"In this paper is the problem solved by ... methods ..." is possible the best way.
But is it my opinion and you can choose your way :-)
@ Hana: I don't think using "we" or "in this paper" are relevant to the point of this discussion. The problem is when we need to refer to another person, especially if the gender is not obvious, how should we do it without offending anyone (be considered sexist)?
Whenever possible, we should use their names outright (Parker mentioned that...), but most often when describing our respondent's behavior or statements, we cannot mention them by name. So begin our problem: should we refer them as a he, a she or the ugly alternative of s/he?
I myself, when describing a respondent, used "one of our subject" most often.
It happens that "we" technique is also used to avoid "sexist writing"!
"When a student writes a paper, he must proofread carefully." can be rewritten as "When we students write our papers, we must proofread carefully."
(http://www.hamilton.edu/writing/writing-resources/avoiding-sexist-language )
If the sentences are written in the passive voice it is possible to avoid a reference to the gender of those persons who are the subject of the writing. For example it is possible to say "when the students have written their papers, they should proofread carefully." or even "Papers written by students should be proofread carefully by the student." Using gender non-specific language is difficult but it is possible.
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