franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams) (07/18/85)
There has been much discussion of third person pronouns lately (he, she, etc.) In my mind the biggest problem with he and she comes when referring to a specific person. This usage very strongly promotes the idea that the most important thing about a person is that person's gender. A new, non-sex-specific pronoun would solve this problem only if used universally, i.e., if he and she became (virtually) obsolete. Does anyone else agree with this as a desirable goal? Does anyone see any hope of accomplishing it? BTW, I have long favored the word "e" to be this pronoun. It has the advantage of extreme simplicity. The main disadvantage is that it sounds rather like "he", especially in some dialects: "'E can go to 'ell." As for cases, why use them? They were gotten rid of for nouns, why have them for a new pronoun? A possessive is needed, of course: e's.