I think it very clever. I’ll not beat this horse more though I suspect our zeal to give nod to trendy Cultural-Correctness might appear a bit silly in a decade. Whatever, I’m probably sooo whacked on this!

David

I first encountered the issue you write of when the manuscript from my first book came back from the editor. I had used the traditional male pronoun throughout and the edited draft came back emasculated. I conducted a small survey as you have, though mine came back with a preference for balance. I have wrestled with the problem ever since with no great success.

When you refer to two hypothetical people, using two genders has the distinct advantage of making it clear which person you are talking about without a lot of clumsy or additional verbage. For no particularly good reason, I tend to make clients feminine and professionals men. (This is probably from a distinctly old-fashioned respect for women. I still hold doors for women, for example. Clients out rank professionals who serve them in matters of etiquette.) Because I often write of clients, this can result in posts, like this one, where the the female pronoun predominates.

I do have a modest proposal for resolving the whole mess. By fiat rigorously enforced with stiff fines and long jail sentences, all men should be required to always use the female pronoun and all women the male pronoun. This approach has three advantages: 1) it will force men to become sensitive to women’s issues, 2) because there are still more men in positions of authority, it will give the female pronoun a needed short-term advantage, but naturally reach a balance in the use of male and female pronouns over time as more women get promoted, and 3) it will infuriate both extreme male chauvinists and the most radical feminist by forcing them to write using the gender pronouns they abhor. What do you think?

Ford Harding

You work wonders on the golf course, so your comment warrants close attention from golfers.

Ford Harding

I’ve noticed in this blog and several recent business books an almost wholesale rejection of the traditional male pronoun “he/his” in favor of female pronouns “she/her”. Is this just a polite or PC concession to feminism — or are most rainmaker client now suddenly female? Does this not risk offending tradional/older rainmaker prospects, male and female? Maybe its regional, or the nature of my work (leveraged charitable giving) but several ladies I’ve asked say they much prefer the traditional use of english. (Of the men asked, most just roll the eyes and wag their heads in resignation, but a couple seemed a bit aggitated as what they called “reverse-sexism”.) I wonder if in our rush to appear modern and cool, we might be offending more prospects than we think?

David

Some answer that they enjoy golf … many of these say they are not good golfers, but like to play.
I take them out to play golf in a nice setting … sometimes not even keeping score … most of the time not talking about business. By the time we are through 18 holes of embarrassment plus some good shots … and we survive, we are ready to work better together and know that if we make mistakes, we can still survive working together and being successful.

A round of golf opens the door to turning relationships into economic value.