Non-gender languages

anyone have an opinion on this, i once read that instead of using a word like his or hers, a nongender word could be created like "shis" to express possession. feminists argue that many languages are sexist and the language contributes to the sexual discrimination of women, personally i disagree.

Bowen: PLEASE PLEASE do not bring feminism into this forum! After three years of being at uni it has caused no end of problems and confusion. They have such a weird agenda and changing expressions and terms in ordinary language that are harmless but they say they are some sort of "threat". AND...it only works in one direction. Like sexual discrimination! That can't be argued about. Ask most of the male students here at uni.

Damian, I agree with you 100% and I have had my run-ins with the crazy feminists in my college years. However, I was just interest to know what others think about this. I argued that the Turkish language is non-gender and the women in Turkey are treated much worse than in many countries in the west that use distinguish words as masculine or feminine.

How about using "its" in the place of "her" or "his"?

But if we said "its tits" for example, people might think we were talking about a bovine.

:D~

I have no gender either.
I am part man and part woman.

I don't care at all about genders in a language! Introducing parity in words and expressions wouldn't change a damn thing. Only social facts are important for feminism.

For instance, saying 'someone's forgotten his/her pen' won't up our salaries.

We can just use 'their' for describing a belonging of something.

their pencil - can mean either his/her pencil

I know, but still I don't think "gender parity" is important. In french, we call a group of people:

"ils" if they are boys
"elles" if they are girls
and "ils" if they are boys and girls

and I don't mind this at all. Yet I know some boys who do...

That is the exact attitude you should have. It is not sexist, its just language and how it goes. If some boys are making a big deal about the fact that happens in languages, they are really inmature!

Excuse me....but in my experience it is not BOYS who get wound up about sexist language and insist on crazy PC stuff that only operates one way. It was NOT a group of BOYS who have said at a meeting at uni, among a lot of other things, that MANchester (the English city) should have its name changed. And it was meant in all seriousness. If boys make a big deal about this craziness is that really being immature? Or just sane?

French "ils" for boys and girls....ok, understood..I would have thought it was girls who would object to that, like they have objected here to huMANity being called MANkind! As a young male I'm getting pissed off that we are the sex always being picked on, criticised, ridiculed and denigrated and all that crap.

My point is that if anyone has a problem with it it is stupid. It is language and has usually been around for centuries. Why should it change to become more PC?

It's getting late, I have had a wee bit of a rough time at work...everything going wrong at the same time and nasty people.....I am now knackered and a wee bit dreich and wraithed. Scots terms...for *******d! At work again at 8am Sat. Usually much better weekends....lots of people nearer my own age and it's fun... not a load of miserable old gits. LOL Sorry.

Jason, the use of "their" in place of the third person singular is only a colloquial usage, and is gramatically wrong. If one is talking about using "his or her pencil," and uses "their" instead, the grammar used here is wrong from the context given.

Grammarians insist 'their' is wrong, but all English speakers use it, and understand it.

Some people need to throw away their textbooks and listen to the dynamic living language and not a 100 year old snapshot!