On Mon, Jun 07, 2021 at 04:57:48PM +0000, Derrick Stolee via GitGitGadget wrote: > > > 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> Well said. Acked-by: Emily Shaffer <emilyshaffer@xxxxxxxxxx> > --- > 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
