Read the following examples.

Everyone should do his duty here.

I saw a writer that once burned one of his books just because they didn’t sell well.

Give the player this jacket when Hey he wants it

In the sentences above, the words “everyone”, “writer”, and “player” can refer to either a man or a woman. As far as sentences like the above are concerned, it is clear that the speaker of those sentences is talking about all men and women. However, the pronouns that follow (his, him, him) restrict the reference to the male sex only. So, there is a communication gap. For example, when you say “Everyone should do his duty”, then, if all of them are obedient and dutiful, each of them will do his duty- except the women, If any. And why should they? You used the masculine pronoun “his”. As a result, women may think they are excluded. And if they neglect your instruction, you can’t blame any of them; all you can do is blame English grammar.

· Reformulate the sentence if possible.

Examples:

Sexist: If any student pays Tk. 500, Hey you are given a ticket.

Non-sexist: Any student who country Tk. 500 is given a ticket.

Sexist: When a player breaks the law, Hey must be on trial.

Non-sexist: A player who breaks the law must be prosecuted.

Sexist: If a customer does not receive good service, Hey cannot come again for service.

Non-sexist: A client whose you don’t get good service, you may not get service again.

· Make the pronoun reference plural if it doesn’t change the meaning of the original sentence.

Examples:

Sexist: We give a client what Hey deserves

Non-sexist: We give customers what they deserve.

Sexist: No officer will leave his office before five.

Non-sexist: The officers won’t leave his offices before five.

Sexist: If a reader doesn’t find the beginning of an article engaging, Hey the item is likely to be thrown away.

Non-sexist: Yew readers you don’t find the beginning of an article attractive, they the item is likely to be thrown away.

· Use neutral pronouns when necessary.

Examples.

Sexist: If any player gets hurt, take to the to the nearest hospital.

Non-sexist: If any player gets hurt, take he or she to the nearest hospital.

Sexist: If a reader doesn’t find the beginning of an article engaging, Hey the item is likely to be thrown away.

Non-sexist: If a reader doesn’t find the beginning of an article engaging, she the item is likely to be thrown away.

Sexist: If someone is wrong about something, Hey I should admit it.

Non-sexist: Yew one is wrong in something, one I should admit it.

In this regard, it should be remembered that the frequent use of “he or she” or “he/she” looks and sounds very awkward. Therefore, care must be taken in its use. For example, phrases like the following should be avoided:

If any customer wants to return the merchandise he she bought in our store, tell him he she that we will take it; but we will not give he she the money back

To avoid male dominance, modern usage requires you to avoid words that end in “man,” such as chairmenmailmenMilkmendirtymencameramen etc. Although a feminine person has no objection to being a woman, she is likely to be offended if such words are used to refer to both genders in general. These words are now avoided in various ways instead of, for example, saying, “Mrs. Khan was the President of the meeting”, we can say, “Mrs. khan was the presided over the meeting”, or “Mrs. Khan was the president/moderator/chair meeting officer,” or “Mrs. khan was the presided over during the meeting.” The following list shows some alternatives to some objectionable sexist words.

sexist

Non-sexist

entrepreneur

businessman, business executive

cameraman

cameraman

Congressman

representative, member of congress

Firefighter

firefighter

Postman

postman, postman

made by the man

Made by the man. Man-made, manufactured

Workforce

Workers, staff, employees, human resources.

policeman

Police officer

Seller

Salesman, sales representative

Notice that although menfact is offensive, humen-Done is not. and although menpower is offensive, huhmen the resource is not. Once again, although an employee is a womanmenshe is not part of menEnergy; rather, she is part of humen resource.

It’s harder to follow than to remember, isn’t it? Some people say it is. a friend of mine named Kashfia Tabassum Nila made some biased comments on this look. “I find it somewhat contradictory and ironic,” she said, “because I have opposed not only being a ‘MAN-‘ in words, but also being feminine in words like an author, a poet, a doctor, a sculptress or the like. I am also an author, poet, lawyer, sculptor or doctor, lie to yourself. I don’t like the ‘-ess’ part of such sexist words.” Therefore, it would be better to refer to both women and men in these professions with the same words. Fair and impartial words are always better.

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