Speaking Freely: An Evening with Remarkable Women -- About the Program

Speaking Freely: An Evening With Remarkable Women

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Mon, Nov 08 3:52:29 PM (PT)
From Brian in San Francisco :
I balk at the use of the absurdly P.C. term "sheroes". While it is true the the English language is full of deficiencies which tend to highlight gender inequality, this term actually worsens the problem. Modern writers struggle with the lack of a gender-neutral, third-person singular pronoun, settling on either an awkward phrase to prove their gender awareness ("he or she", "s/he", etc.) or else simply pick a singular form to use as a generic (which has traditionally been "he", but now is just as likely to be either "he" or "she"). But if the traditional term "heroine" is inacceptable for whatever reason, why not allow there to be "heroes" of either gender? That seems more reasonable than inventing terms ("sheroes", "herstory", et al) that widen the gap between the sexes. How on earth is such a separatist movement supposed to eventually bring about equality and respect OF both sexes BY both sexes?

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