If you’ve been following City Council races, especially District 3, you might be interested in this post by voiceofsandiego.org’s Scott Lewis in which candidate John Hartley talks about why he wants to return to the City Council after deciding not to run again after serving from 1989 to 1993.
This part bugged me:
He said this time around, he would hire a strong manager to be chief of staff for him. “I’ll let him work his magic. He’ll be working with staff and they will answer to him” Hartley said. (my itals)
Hmm… male pronoun? Some grammarians will say that one must use a singular pronoun when referring to a single person and in that case, you must choose a gender. Others say that it’s OK to use a singular “they” or “their.” Granted, the statement would be totally awkward if the male pronoun was replaced by they or their. In fact, it would be a disaster.
Regardless, women are pretty well-represented among chiefs-of-staff at City Hall:
Scott Peters: female (Betsy Kinsley)
Kevin Faulconer: male (Steve McNally)
Toni Atkins: female (Denise Price)
Tony Young: male (Jimmie Slack, who wins the prize for coolest name)
Brian Maienschein: male (Lance Witmondt)
Donna Frye: male (Steven Hadley)
Jim Madaffer: female (Aimee Faucett)
Ben Hueso: female (Ana Molina-Rodriguez)
So, there ya go.
Update: John Hartley ain’t in the race anymore. As a friend of mine just put it—”um, wow.”
March 27, 2008 - 9:11 pm at 9:11 pm
No! It’s not OK to use “they” or “their”! No!!!
Just say “She or he.” Or “He or she.”
March 27, 2008 - 9:12 pm at 9:12 pm
Oh, and, by the way, looks like Hartley’s been working his own magic, if you know what I mean. [Wink, wink.]
March 27, 2008 - 10:07 pm at 10:07 pm
It is perfectly OK to use “they” or “their.”
“Who left their dirty socks on the radiator?”
“If someone doesn’t shut the water off, they’re going to get a spanking.”
Don’t make me call A Way With Words.
March 28, 2008 - 5:51 pm at 5:51 pm
“Who left dirty socks on the radiator?”
“If you don’t shut the water off, you’re going to get a spanking.”
March 30, 2008 - 10:09 pm at 10:09 pm
“One by one, they approached the check-out line, knowing they were about to get hosed.”
Beat that.
March 31, 2008 - 1:55 pm at 1:55 pm
I don’t see why you guys have to argue about this. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. (wink)
April 7, 2008 - 10:40 am at 10:40 am
1)What needs to be said is that District 3 has sadly lacked good representation in ITS councilmembers and THEIR (heir-apparent) chiefs of staff for a long, long time. Vote Stephen Whitburn for a change!
2)If Kelly calls a “A Way with Words,” she will lose all Cool standing. Plus, she risks a spanking from David Rolland who does seem to have the edge on subject/personal pronoun agreement.