I don't get it...why in the old textbooks or the articles we read...there is always a mension of the word "he" rather than he and she (even the constitution). any thoughts...
2006-12-14 05:51:41 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
In the English language, the generic gender is male. That is just how the language works. There are some languages that have a neutral gender, and some languages which don't use gender with pronouns, but if you want to speak proper English, you use the male gender when you don't want to specify a particular sex.
Edit: English is a living language, subject to change. It wouldn't surprise me if, in the future, people used a neutral gender to refer to other people, but at the moment, nobody likes to be called an "it."
2006-12-14 06:02:23 · answer #1 · answered by Rambo Smurf 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Men suffered from amnesia due to cruel fights for women and women permitted those who survived some writing as a kind of psychotherapy during recovery period. Therefore we have what we have in writing historically. Clever things do not need writing as they may be implemented and forgotten and then other things become urgent. And not all people need reminders. LOL.
2006-12-14 16:00:12 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because as you said those are old textbooks and articles.
The sexual discrimination has only ben addressed in the last years (Sex Discrimination Act) and now if you don´t want to say he or she normally the word "person" is being used.
2006-12-14 14:17:01 · answer #3 · answered by Martha P 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Possibly because the languages of old, and several modern languages, are able to write in the 3rd person singular without referring to gender. In English we have to say "he is" or "she is" while in Spanish, for example, all you need is "es", which refers to either gender.
When reading such texts, you should assume that "he" means "he" or "she".
Probably more than you wanted, but the above has led to (in my opinion) the use of "their" when you don't know if it's a guy or a gal.
2006-12-14 14:12:05 · answer #4 · answered by JJ 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In the past only males are allowed to speak, and even in the Bible everything is in the masculine gender, like He for God, and we sing "hymns" instead of "hers", and of course "his-tory" instead of "her-story". Until lately women in many countries are not allowed to vote, and in Moslem countries until today, a woman's witness is not as valid as a man's witness. And even in modern countries men get better wages than women.
2006-12-14 15:44:38 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nice question. Well, because at that time the man was everything women weren't allowed to do anything . They were using she only for Romantic Stories or Poems. Because they were using women only for Romance and sexually desire.
2006-12-14 17:20:17 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, I think that everybody ( or almost everybody ) knows that people are HE or SHE. Besides, since in the USA people love short expressions, it is shorter to say: "he" and leave the rest to the imagination. Besides, in some cases, it IS really a he
2006-12-14 14:13:20 · answer #7 · answered by Dios es amor 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because males are historically dominant. Women in the time of the constitution did not have a hand in it. women were oppressed for so many years. Heck, we didn't get the right to vote until the early 20th Cent and the right to work til the late 20th cent...
2006-12-14 13:55:52 · answer #8 · answered by juliet03angel281 2 · 3⤊ 3⤋
because...
OK the word is
HIS-STORY
NOT
HER-STORY.
in the past dudes write the most.
sorry kiddo
2006-12-14 14:01:59 · answer #9 · answered by J.C. 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Cause shakira rules
2006-12-14 14:24:26 · answer #10 · answered by Phinoeas 2 · 0⤊ 4⤋