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Bug#263084: "Sexist language" not fact



The document linked from the Debian-Women FAQ says in http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/ellens/Gender/pap/node21.html#SECTION00530000000000000000 that "gender-neutral language" is "currently under debate". As I understand it, one's opinion probably depends on the position taken about behaviourism and mentalism, and things like the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

It seems useful or sensible to balance obvious unjustifiable male defaults over time, mostly as a consequence of other actions (such as delegates being more representative). A simplistic purge of third-person-singular pronouns and the "-man" morpheme seems to make it harder to read for everyone. Is there clear support that there's benefit from a purge?

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