FEMINISM GONE MAD


No-one, I suppose, is going to suggest that the centuries-old struggle to rescue women from the position of social inferiority in which they were confined for so long is anything but one of the signs of slow maturity on the part of human beings which can fitfully be detected among all the fog and smoke of the 20th century.
The aim is impeccable, and the progress admirable. That is not to say, however, that some of the side-effects have not been deplorable. There are misgivings about the effect of these upheavals have had on family life, and many are sorry to see the status of home-maker down-graded from its central importance in a healthy society.
My immediate concern, however, is the effect on the English language. Language is a construct which encapsulates the heart of a civilisation, and ours is under a particularly raucous bombardment at the present. We can't afford to let enthusiasts for other considerations, however worthwhile, to feel entitled to monkey about with it irresponsibly.
Turning aside from idiocies such as 'herstory' as a substitute for 'history' there is the simple but essential matter of possessive pronouns. [Don't worry, dear, if your teachers hid this useful information from you - it's quite simple, really.]
'Every passenger must retain his ticket for inspection until he leaves the boat.' Couldn't be clearer, could it? Yes, we know that some passengers are going to be female, but the clear understanding in any sane mind is that what is being referred to is the human being and not only the male human being. Or, as the old grammar books put it, to the childish delight of the immature, 'The male embraces the female.'
But what do we now get? 'Every passenger [every single passenger, notice] must retain their ticket....or their tickets....' But how many passengers to a ticket? And how many tickets does a passenger hold?
Even writers as fastidious in the use of words as Alan Bennett can these days be read tying himself in knots in sentences on the lines of [I can't find the exact quotation]'Any man now writing, or woman for that matter, must ensure that they...' - when the whole point of the sentence is the singularity of the individual.
'His' means, and can only mean, 'belonging to him'. 'Her(s)' means 'belonging to her'. 'Their' means belonging to several people, not one. Let's get this straight.
Does it matter? Yes, it does. Despite all the marvellous advances of technology, words remain the the central means by which human beings keep in touch. When this tool becomes blunted in any way our power to understand each other is diminished, and never was there a time when that power was needed more than in the complex world in which we now live.