pc (05/10/83)
1. My husband and I use Company Address Hello! text Sincerely, Name 2. Before our son was born, we used "it" even though we had had an ultrasound scan done (which SEEMED to indicate we were going to have a daughter!). That never seemed unnatural to us. Being completely unkown, it was more natural to say, "It seems to be very active today" than to say "She seems very active today." Of course, it turns out "she" would have been inaccurate. 3. Over the past 8 years or so, I've changed my style of writing and speaking to avoid gender references where they are irrelevant. It is now TOTALLY NATURAL for me to speak without reference to sex in all but very unusual circumstances. When I do make a gender-specific choice (unconsciously), I can usually find a subconscious prejudice lurking about. There are times when gender references are innocuous and times when they are obnoxious. I find most obnoxious descriptions such as ones about "The office of the future" in which all of the "bosses" are "he"s and the secretaries are "she"s. That kind of thing is simply unnecessary. es, education and SETTING A GOOD EXAMPLE are the best solutions to this irksome problem. patricia collins hplabs