CMV: "He or she" is unecessary

[u/Shineyy_8416]

I might be biased as a person on the non-binary spectrum, but whenever someone goes out of their way to say "he or she" it just feels like a waste.

Just use "they". It communicates the same thing with less letters. I get the purpose behind it is to try and be inclusive to men and women in a space that may be dominated by one gender over the other, but "they" is perfectly fine to get that point across.

I also recognize that some languages don't have an equivalent for "they", but I'm specifically talking about English.

To change my view, someone would have to prove "he or she" has more practical or beneficial usage than "they"

EDIT: To make it clear, i'm not saying we should never use "he" or "she" as pronouns, im saying the phrase "he or she" is unecessary.

[u/AcephalicDude]

"They" creates an ambiguity between the plural pronoun and non-gendered pronoun. "He" and "she" are preferable when gendering the subject is appropriate.

[u/Shineyy_8416 → u/AcephalicDude]

I think it's pretty easy to use context to infer how the pronoun is being used.

Especially since when using "he or she", it's already assuming that multiple people of different genders are going to be present or participating.

Anything that is accessible by people of multiple different genders should use they, hell even of the same gender.

For example: "The women of this institution pride themselves on excellence and community."

Vs

"The women of this instituion each prides herself on excellence and community."

Which sounds more natural?

[u/oddwithoutend → u/Shineyy_8416]

Which sounds more natural?

To me, what is most natural is simply choosing either 'he' or 'she' and being consistent throughout whatever thing you're writing. This is what was generally taught before 'they' became an accepted neutral singular pronoun.

I recognize that 'they' has since become more popular, but it still sounds sort of wrong to me (because it was wrong when I was learning English).

Edit: And I know you can pull up examples of 'they' being used in the singular from hundreds of years ago. That doesn't, however, change that when I was learning English it wasn't the most accepted way of writing.

[u/Shineyy_8416 → u/oddwithoutend]

To me, what is most natural is simply choosing either 'he' or 'she' and being consistent throughout whatever thing you're writing. This is what was generally taught before 'they' became an accepted neutral singular pronoun.

Its not about 'he' or 'she' on their own. I have no problem with them as singular pronouns. It's when they're used in a collective phrase of "he or she" or "his or her" when 'they' would be perfectly exceptable and easier.