Should You Use ‘He’, ‘She’ or ‘They’ in Your Blog Posts?

If you want to hire a blogger to write for you, it’s important that he can provide you with relevant samples of his writing.A few generations ago, a sentence like this wouldn’t have an eyebrow. (Well, other than because “blogging” wasn’t a thing back then.)

Traditionally, “he” could be use in this type of sentence as a neutral pronoun to encompass both male and female. Old style guides might still suggest it be uthat way.

But today it’s rare to come across any writer who believes “he” can be  neutrally. Regardless of the intent, “he” inevitably implies the person being reo is male, not female.

In our example sentence, using “he” might be seen as implying that freelance bloggers are mostly male (or even that they should be male), which is far from ideal.

One case where it might make sense to use “he” for hypothetical people is when you’re writing for a blog aimsolely at males (e.g. a blog about prostate cancer). But it can still be an issue, as we’ll come to when we discuss the use of “they”.

Option #2: Use “She” to Make a Point

If you want to hire a blogger to write for you, it’s important that she can provide you with relevant samples of her writing.

An alternative approach is to use “she”. It’s likely to stand out because it’s not as common as using “he”, which may be what you want. For instance, you might want to challenge the reader’s unconscious assumptions by using “she” to talk about hypothetical CEOs or managers.

 

Option #4: Use “They”, Either as a Singular Pronoun or By Rewriting the Sentence

If you want to hire a blogger to write for you, it’s important that they can provide you with relevant samples of their writing.

This is my favourite option. These days I updated 2024 mobile phone number data simply use it as a singular pronoun. I know some people dislike that, but it’s become very common across all sorts of m (It’s also found in writing going back centuries, as the Oxford Dictionaries site explains here.)

 

The preferpronoun for most of these readers is likely to be “they” (though there are other options such as “ze”), so using it as your all-purpose neutral pronoun makes great sense. That way you’re including all your readers: male, female and non-binary.

But if you’re strongly oppos using “they” as a singular pronoun, there’s a simple solution: rewrite your sentence to make the subject plural.

If you want to hire bloggers to write for you, it’s important that they can provide you with relevant samples of their writing.

While it won’t work for every sentence of this type, in most cases it will solve the he/she/they issue. No-one will fault you on your grammar, and it’s inclusive of readers of any gender.

Why This Matters (Even Though It’s Your Blog)updated 2024 mobile phone number data

 

But I don’t think we Xác định đối tượng mục tiêu của bạn should see he/she/they as a minor, insignificant issue that people are just waiting to be ‘offended’ over.

Instead.It’s an opportunity to bring about agb directory a more equal world where people of all genders feel equally valued and welcomed.  Which is hopefully something we all want. As bloggers and writers, we have an important role to play here.

Of course, in the end it’s your blog and your choice about the pronouns you use.

 

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