From: Derrick Stolee <dstolee@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Technical writing seeks to convey information with minimal friction. One way that a reader can experience friction is if they encounter a description of "a user" that is later simplified using a gendered pronoun. If the reader does not consider that pronoun to apply to them, then they can experience cognitive dissonance that removes focus from the information. If we use singular "they/them" pronouns instead of "he/him" or "she/her" pronouns, then we can avoid this congitive load on the reader. Using singular "they" is also incredibly efficient. Choosing a gendered pronoun is usually arbitrary between "he" or "she". Using constructs such as "he or she", "s/he", or "(s)he" are more complicated than singular "they". When choosing a gendered pronoun, that pronoun no longer applies to nearly half of possible readers. Even if we alternated between "he/him" and "she/her" perfectly evenly, we would still expect male and female readers to experience an incorrect pronoun half the time. However, some readers will not prescribe to either of these binary genders. Those readers hence suffer an incorrect pronoun the entire time. Singular "they" applies to every reader. Perhaps due to similar reasons, official style guides have changed their stance on singuler "they" in recent years. For example, the APA style guide changed their official recommendation in 2019 [1]. The MLA handbook also references helpful ways to use singular "they" [2]. While not fully endorsing it, the Chicago Manual of Style has removed its blanket ban on singular "they" [3] (the previous recommendation was to only use "it" as a singular non-gendered pronoun). [1] https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/singular-they [2] https://style.mla.org/using-singular-they/ [3] https://libraries.indiana.edu/chicago-manual-style-singular-pronoun-they While not all styleguides are updating their recommendations, we can make a choice as a project to adopt the concept because of the efficiencies above, as well as the benefits of increased inclusion. To futher justify singular "they" as an acceptable grammatical concept, I include the careful research of brian m. carlson who collected their thoughts on this matter [2] (lightly edited): Singular "they" has been used by native English speakers as part of the language for over half a millennium and is widely used and understood. This usage is specified in Merriam Webster[3]: The use of they, their, them, and themselves as pronouns of indefinite gender and indefinite number is well established in speech and writing, even in literary and formal contexts. Wiktionary notes[4] (references omitted): Usage of they as a singular pronoun began in the 1300s and has been common ever since, despite attempts by some grammarians, beginning in 1795, to condemn it as a violation of traditional (Latinate) agreement rules. Some other grammarians have countered that criticism since at least 1896. Fowler's Modern English Usage (third edition) notes that it "is being left unaltered by copy editors" and is "not widely felt to lie in a prohibited zone." Some authors compare use of singular they to widespread use of singular you instead of thou. Linguists fit roughly into two camps: prescriptive and descriptive. The former specify rules for people to use, and the latter document language as it is actually used without forming a judgment. Some prescriptivists think it is acceptable, and some do not. But descriptivists will rightly note that it is and has been commonly used in English across countries, cultures, and contexts for an extended period of time and is therefore generally accepted by most English speakers as a normal part of the language. Since we are writing text for an English language audience who are mostly not linguists, we should probably consider using the language that most people will use in this context. [2] https://lore.kernel.org/git/YKrk4dEjEm6+48ji@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/ [3] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/they [4] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/they If we refer to a specific person, then using a gendered pronoun is appropriate. Examples within the Git codebase include: * References to real people (e.g. Linus Torvalds, "the Git maintainer"). Do not misgender real people. If there is any doubt to the gender of a person, then use singular "they". * References to fictional people with clear genders (e.g. Alice and Bob). * Sample text used in test cases (e.g t3702, t6432). * The official text of the GPL license contains uses of "he or she", but modifying the license this way is not within the scope of the Git project. Other cases within the Git project were cleaned up by the previous changes. Signed-off-by: Derrick Stolee <dstolee@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> --- Documentation/CodingGuidelines | 5 +++++ 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+) diff --git a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines index e3af089ecf26..78cd399f7cf5 100644 --- a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines +++ b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines @@ -648,3 +648,8 @@ Writing Documentation: inline substituted text+ instead of `monospaced literal text`, and with the former, the part that should not get substituted must be quoted/escaped. + + When referring to an anonymous user, use singular "they/them" pronouns + as opposed to choosing between "he/him" and "she/her". Do not use more + complicated constructs such as "he or she" or "s/he". This recommendation + also applies to code comments and commit messages. -- gitgitgadget
