Re: [boost] Gender neutral documentation (was RE: [ANN] Phoen ix-2 prerelease)

From: David Abrahams (dave_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-11-04 07:55:47

Martin Bonner <martin.bonner_at_[hidden]> writes:

> David Abrahams <dave_at_[hidden]> writes:
>> Joel de Guzman <joel_at_[hidden]> writes:
>>> This means for example that the
>>> client can completely discard Bind if she does not need it; or
>>                                                             ^
>>                                            that should be a comma
>> 
>>> perhaps take out Operator and Statement and just use Function, which
>>   ^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>   "she can leave"
>
> Is there a boost convention on gender neutral language?

Nope.

> I approve of the sentiment behind using "she" (there aren't enough women in
> technical roles), but I do find myself stumbling every time I read it.
>
> My personal preference is to use "they" as the first person singular
> gender-neutral pronoun.  This will be /intensely/ irritating to grammar
> purists, but does seem to be the way the language is evolving.

Personally, I'd prefer if you wrote "he," or just avoided the pronoun:

     A user that does not need Bind can discard it

etc.

-- 
Dave Abrahams
Boost Consulting
www.boost-consulting.com