Re: [PATCH 4/4] CodingGuidelines: recommend singular they

[Emily Shaffer <emilyshaffer@google.com>]

On Mon, Jun 07, 2021 at 04:57:48PM +0000, Derrick Stolee via GitGitGadget wrote:
> 
> 
> Technical writing seeks to convey information with minimal friction. One
> way that a reader can experience friction is if they encounter a
> description of "a user" that is later simplified using a gendered
> pronoun. If the reader does not consider that pronoun to apply to them,
> then they can experience cognitive dissonance that removes focus from
> the information.
> 
> If we use singular "they/them" pronouns instead of "he/him" or "she/her"
> pronouns, then we can avoid this congitive load on the reader.
> 
> Using singular "they" is also incredibly efficient. Choosing a gendered
> pronoun is usually arbitrary between "he" or "she". Using constructs
> such as "he or she", "s/he", or "(s)he" are more complicated than
> singular "they".
> 
> When choosing a gendered pronoun, that pronoun no longer applies to
> nearly half of possible readers. Even if we alternated between "he/him"
> and "she/her" perfectly evenly, we would still expect male and female
> readers to experience an incorrect pronoun half the time. However, some
> readers will not prescribe to either of these binary genders. Those
> readers hence suffer an incorrect pronoun the entire time. Singular
> "they" applies to every reader.
> 
> Perhaps due to similar reasons, official style guides have changed their
> stance on singuler "they" in recent years. For example, the APA style
> guide changed their official recommendation in 2019 [1]. The MLA
> handbook also references helpful ways to use singular "they" [2]. While
> not fully endorsing it, the Chicago Manual of Style has removed its
> blanket ban on singular "they" [3] (the previous recommendation was to
> only use "it" as a singular non-gendered pronoun).
> 
> [1] https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/singular-they
> [2] https://style.mla.org/using-singular-they/
> [3] https://libraries.indiana.edu/chicago-manual-style-singular-pronoun-they
> 
> While not all styleguides are updating their recommendations, we can
> make a choice as a project to adopt the concept because of the
> efficiencies above, as well as the benefits of increased inclusion.
> 
> To futher justify singular "they" as an acceptable grammatical concept,
> I include the careful research of brian m. carlson who collected their
> thoughts on this matter [2] (lightly edited):
> 
>   Singular "they" has been used by native English speakers as part of
>   the language for over half a millennium and is widely used and
>   understood. This usage is specified in Merriam Webster[3]:
> 
>     The use of they, their, them, and themselves as pronouns of
>     indefinite gender and indefinite number is well established in
>     speech and writing, even in literary and formal contexts.
> 
>   Wiktionary notes[4] (references omitted):
> 
>     Usage of they as a singular pronoun began in the 1300s and has been
>     common ever since, despite attempts by some grammarians, beginning
>     in 1795, to condemn it as a violation of traditional (Latinate)
>     agreement rules. Some other grammarians have countered that criticism
>     since at least 1896. Fowler's Modern English Usage (third edition)
>     notes that it "is being left unaltered by copy editors" and is "not
>     widely felt to lie in a prohibited zone." Some authors compare use of
>     singular they to widespread use of singular you instead of thou.
> 
>   Linguists fit roughly into two camps: prescriptive and descriptive.
>   The former specify rules for people to use, and the latter document
>   language as it is actually used without forming a judgment.
> 
>   Some prescriptivists think it is acceptable, and some do not. But
>   descriptivists will rightly note that it is and has been commonly
>   used in English across countries, cultures, and contexts for an
>   extended period of time and is therefore generally accepted by most
>   English speakers as a normal part of the language.  Since we are
>   writing text for an English language audience who are mostly not
>   linguists, we should probably consider using the language that most
>   people will use in this context.
> 
> [2] https://lore.kernel.org/git/YKrk4dEjEm6+48ji@camp.crustytoothpaste.net/
> [3] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/they
> [4] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/they
> 
> If we refer to a specific person, then using a gendered pronoun is
> appropriate. Examples within the Git codebase include:
> 
> * References to real people (e.g. Linus Torvalds, "the Git maintainer").
>   Do not misgender real people. If there is any doubt to the gender of a
>   person, then use singular "they".
> 
> * References to fictional people with clear genders (e.g. Alice and
>   Bob).
> 
> * Sample text used in test cases (e.g t3702, t6432).
> 
> * The official text of the GPL license contains uses of "he or she", but
>   modifying the license this way is not within the scope of the Git
>   project.
> 
> Other cases within the Git project were cleaned up by the previous
> changes.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Derrick Stolee <dstolee@microsoft.com>

Well said.
Acked-by: Emily Shaffer <emilyshaffer@google.com>

> ---
>  Documentation/CodingGuidelines | 5 +++++
>  1 file changed, 5 insertions(+)
> 
> diff --git a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines
> index e3af089ecf26..78cd399f7cf5 100644
> --- a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines
> +++ b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines
> @@ -648,3 +648,8 @@ Writing Documentation:
>   inline substituted text+ instead of `monospaced literal text`, and with
>   the former, the part that should not get substituted must be
>   quoted/escaped.
> +
> + When referring to an anonymous user, use singular "they/them" pronouns
> + as opposed to choosing between "he/him" and "she/her". Do not use more
> + complicated constructs such as "he or she" or "s/he". This recommendation
> + also applies to code comments and commit messages.
> -- 
> gitgitgadget