Re: [PATCH] am: counteract gender bias

From: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Date: Jul 8, 2016, 07:08 UTC
Message-ID: <alpine.DEB.2.20.1607080845360.6426@virtualbox>
In-Reply-To: <xmqq37nlqvse.fsf@gitster.mtv.corp.google.com>

Hi Junio,

On Thu, 7 Jul 2016, Junio C Hamano wrote:

> We should just use "theirs" to be consistent from the beginning, as
> you suggested.  There is no need to churn the codebase for political
> correctness to first use "hers" that everybody knows will *not* be
> the final form.

I will change the patch to say "theirs" (BTW "they" is nowadays considered not necessarily plural only, but can be used as a gender-neutral singular: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They).

However.

I strongly disagree that this is the correct course of action. In my view, this has nothing to do with political correctness. It has all to do with respect instead. And I find it disrespectful to quietly paper over the issue instead of making a bold statement (which my patch constitutes).

There seems to be no support for my position.

Therefore, with sadness, I set this aside as yet another concession to those men who are really comfortable to equate "programmer" with "he" in their minds and at the same time feel utterly offended when addressed as "How are you ladies doing today?".

I absolutely despise having to change this patch, yet I do not currently have the time nor the nerve to insist on my version of the patch.

Regards, Johannes

P.S.: Having said that, I do notice that the communication on this mailing list has become much more civil in the past few years. I am pleased by that, and I am hoping for much more, to the point where we are truly inclusive. It will be more productive, and also much more fun.