Post AVthVOCmqGXbRPkPs8 by tidmarsh@heads.social
(DIR) More posts by tidmarsh@heads.social
(DIR) Post #AVtEEpFi8AZ9jUrgbA by grammargirl@zirk.us
2023-05-21T19:46:29Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
I'm reading a research paper from the 1960s, and it uses "he" as a gender-neutral pronoun, which feels so weirdly wrong to me: "The subject rapidly repeats the word aloud before *he* rates the word..."I guess it's also possible that back then all the research subjects were male (which feels weird in a different way).It's also odd that they used the present tense to describe the methods. These days, it is usually past tense.How things have changed!
(DIR) Post #AVtEKnqiGE0n7P1Sds by EricaFriedman@mastodon.social
2023-05-21T19:47:33Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@grammargirl Almost certainly all the test subjects were male. Medicine and academia *still* have to be reminded to diversify test pools.
(DIR) Post #AVtGTzcO4bJO8LpcoK by grammargirl@zirk.us
2023-05-21T20:11:35Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
I'm farther along in reading the study, and they describe the subjects as "college students, graduate students, and housewives." It's a gender-neutral "he"!Plus, since graduate students are also college students, I find the wording inexact.
(DIR) Post #AVtGZvHX6nI0QEuAOe by ProcessParsnip@kolektiva.social
2023-05-21T20:12:40Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@grammargirl ah yes, the three gendersCollege students, graduate students, and housewives
(DIR) Post #AVtH7RXKCudI0yH7Vg by aristofontes@mastodon.social
2023-05-21T20:18:45Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@grammargirl I can't speak for other institutions (or common usage in the 1960s), but FWIW, UVA distinguishes between the College of Arts and Sciences (= undergrads) and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (= grad students).
(DIR) Post #AVtH7k8r27LdiZyLVQ by xahteiwi@mastodon.social
2023-05-21T20:18:48Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@grammargirl In a similar vein, I recently (finally) read The Andromeda Strain from 1969, which keeps referring to a baby as "it". I know this was common at the time, but it still felt rather jarring.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Andromeda_Strain
(DIR) Post #AVtHIcOmA8Ywt8bZtg by vlk@mastodon.social
2023-05-21T20:20:47Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@grammargirl Convention in astronomy is for all referenced works to be in past tense and all current work, including data collection, analysis, and discussion, to be in present tense and active voice. (Not that everyone sticks to it.)
(DIR) Post #AVtKR1T78WiMowKjXE by Karendipitee@mastodon.social
2023-05-21T20:55:54Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@grammargirl I started as a World Book editor in 1986 and we were just starting to replace “he” with “he or she” and that was considered pretty progressive then.
(DIR) Post #AVtMijR77PbO10yCDg by eco_amandine@mastodon.cr
2023-05-21T21:21:27Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@grammargirl the research paper is in active or passive voice? I think more modern papers use an active voice in general but old papers used more passive.
(DIR) Post #AVtUCtQnDojHNe9I6i by ajkandy@mastodon.social
2023-05-21T22:45:23Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@grammargirl “The subject puts the lotion on his skin or he gets the hose again…” 😬
(DIR) Post #AVthGLFhXTV3wGw4Nk by grammargirl@zirk.us
2023-05-22T01:11:42Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@eco_amandine There's a lot of passive voice:An attempt was made to...The variables have been shown to be...Etc.
(DIR) Post #AVthVOCmqGXbRPkPs8 by tidmarsh@heads.social
2023-05-22T01:14:25Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@grammargirl The most jarring one I came across was Eudora Welty writing about her own writing and using “the writer…he.”