labcats | Pronoun Trouble

CthulhuTech has this annoying sidebar defending the author's decision to use he / his / him as the third person singular pronoun in examples.

If it hadn't been for that sidebar, I would not have cared. Fine, that's the decision the authors made. But being informed that, "right or wrong", this is "the standard" and "we're used to seeing it"? That annoys me.

Okay, first off, if it's wrong, I don't care if it's "the standard" -- it's wrong. Many wrong things used to be the standard; many wrong things still are. That does not mean we should say, "Well, that's the standard."

Second, in terms of language, something is "the standard" because individuals perpetuate it. People can make a conscious choice to perpetuate it or to challenge it. Language changes over time.

Third, I am, at this point, used to seeing a wide variety of choices made about the third person singular, as, I believe, are the authors. Otherwise, I doubt they would feel such a sidebar was necessary.

I have no problem with "he or she" used constantly, or with "she / her / hers". I have no problem with the two alternating. I even have no problem with "he / his / him". I understand the point that people make about how it leaves out half of the human race, and one thing that keeps me from dismissing this point out of hand is that I am almost invariably surprised when someone first uses "she / her / hers" for the first time in a book. If it still surprises me, there is a political point to be made. When we stop being surprised, there won't be.

But, okay, you're writing a roleplaying game, and you've decided not to get involved in this political issue. You know, I don't have a problem with that. It's a valid decision.

And, you've decided to use the version of the third person pronoun you yourself are most comfortable with, and that happens to be "he / his / him". Fine. For all of the political examples I could cite explaining why, perhaps, I should have an issue, I really don't. It's a valid decision.

But the moment you start saying "That is Just The Way It Is and anything else is Weird", I have an issue with it. You may find it weird, but don't you dare to speak for me. You have moved from "I don't want to get involved in this political issue" to being involved in it while loudly proclaiming you are not because your position is "the standard". Hogwash.