I've been taught that a child is gender-neutral noun. But in the textbook on linguistics I've been reading, the noun is used as feminine. For example, a sentence in the book goes like this:
The child must also learn many aspects of grammar from her specific linguistic environment.
Is there an explanation for the use of the pronoun her instead of its?
Answer
Child is gender neutral. As a result, when referring to a child, one must then choose a pronoun he,she or they when referring to the said child, as English does not have a gender neutral way of referring to that individual. This causes a problem for writers. Whatever you choose could be wrong.
Some would write he, but that sounds sexist and presumptive. Some write they, but this does not confirm the singular as it could refer to many. As an alternative some writers have taken to using she to balance those that historically have used the masculine form.
Other writers go to great lengths to avoid any of these forms by just rewriting the sentences completely.
Stack Exchange questions and answers have the same problem. Do we refer to a writer as he, she, they...? Whatever one chooses makes implications that it may not be correct.
We almost never use it or its to refer to a child, as this form is reserved for objects and not people and thus is considered to be demeaning.
No comments:
Post a Comment