Gender & English Learning
The English language does not have grammatical gender. Unlike many languages, such as French, English does not have a noun class system that requires various sentence elements to agree with a noun depending on which class the noun is in.
However, gender does play an important role in the English language. While masculine pronouns (and sometimes nouns as well) have historically been used to refer to mixed-gender groups or to an individual whose gender is not specified, the acceptability of this trend has been challenged in recent decades. Shaped by the passage of time and the influence of various philosophies, the English language--and gender usage within the English language--continues to change.
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Grammatical Gender
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When you hear about "gender" in a particular language, the reference is often to grammatical gender. In a noun system that has grammatical gender, there are two or three noun classes (each with particular features). Often, in a grammatical gender system, nouns that correspond to male animals and people fall under one category (which is appropriately labeled "masculine nouns"). Nouns corresponding to female people and animals fall under another category ("feminine nouns"). Other nouns that are not related to the item's actual gender (such as a table or a tree) may fall under either of these categories, or they may fall into a third category, "neuter nouns." In a language with grammatical gender, the nouns must be in gender agreement with other parts of speech in the sentence. For example, French has grammatical gender. When a French masculine noun is used in a sentence, the adjectives used to describe it must also be masculine adjectives.
English Nouns
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English nouns do not have grammatical gender. Different nouns may be used to refer to male and female persons or animals (for example, actor refers to a male while actress refers to a female of the same profession). However, these nouns have no grammatical implications. For example, in English you could refer to an excellent actor or an excellent actress. In both cases, the adjective excellent would have the same form, because the nouns actor and actress, though referring to a male and a female, are not in separate grammatical gender classes.
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Gender in English
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Although English does not have true grammatical gender, the actual sex of an animal or person influences which pronoun is used to replace that noun in the third person singular. For example, a noun that refers to a male is replaced by the pronoun he or him. A noun referring to a female is replaced by she or her. A noun that refers to something that is not gender-specific is replaced by the pronoun it. When third-person nouns become plural, they are always replaced by the pronoun they; this pronoun stays the same regardless of whether the items being referred to are feminine, masculine or neither.
Debate
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Historically in the English language, a handful of masculine nouns and pronouns have been used to refer to mixed groups that contain both men and women, or to an individual whose gender is not specified. For example, an instruction booklet on how to care for a baby might say, "If your baby is hungry, feed him." In this case, the masculine gender is simply selected as a default, because it would sound awkward to say, "If your baby is hungry, feed him or her." However, due to the rise of feminism and the general push toward gender equality in all realms (including that of spoken and written language), many people no longer consider it appropriate to refer to a group or to a non-gender-specified individual using solely masculine nouns or pronouns.
Recommendations
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When speaking and writing the English language, how should you approach the gender issue? First, do not be exclusive to one gender when it is not necessary. When addressing a mixed-gender group, it is always appropriate to address them inclusively; for example, brothers and sisters, rather than simply brothers, and ladies and gentlemen, rather than just gentlemen. It is respectful to always acknowledge everyone to whom you are speaking.
When you are writing, and must refer to an individual whose gender is unknown, you have several choices. You can go with the traditional singular masculine pronoun. This is still considered grammatically correct (although many people consider this sexist and might be offended by your speech and writing). Alternatively, you can insert the words he or she in place of he. Finally, it is becoming more widely accepted, particularly in casual usage, to use the plural third person pronouns they and them to refer to an individual whose gender is unspecified.
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References
Resources
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