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Message: [QUOTE="James Kuyper, post: 4225131"] That standard is, in many contexts, giving way to a conflicting one which rejects the use 'he' when the gender is unknown, as sexist. This is not, as I've heard some people suggest, due to ignorance of the rule of English that makes it technically correct. It is based in a rejection of the idea that it is a good rule to have. "he or she" is clumsier. Rewording the statement so that a pronoun is not needed is a cleaner alternative, but often quite difficult; I usually use one or the other of those two approaches. The ideal solution would be a new pronoun which implies neither an insulting lack of gender, nor non-existent knowledge of the correct gender. Several have been suggested, but none has received wide acceptance. I don't think anyone is advocating "s/he" as that new pronoun - for one thing, it's unpronounceable. [/OT] [/QUOTE]