Wow. Its really not so hard after all. Can we end this thread with the
voice of reason prevailing?

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Mark Nielsen
Exhibit Designer/Preparator
University of Michigan Museum of Art
[log in to unmask]      313/647-2068

On Thu, 31 Oct 1996, patricia l roath wrote:

> I'd like to suggest that everyone pick up a little book titled "The
> Handbood of Nonsexist Writing", by Casey Miller & Kate Swift.  A second
> edition came out in 1988 (first published in 1980); there may be
> subsequent editions.
>
> The authors give a historical perspective on the supposedly generic
> masculine that is assumed correct in most English writing.  They also
> give easy solutions to such incorrect assumptions for most
> situations--including correspondence.
>
> These issues are larger than simply how we address each other on this
> list--underlying assumptions in language are a crucial consideration
> in catalog writing, gallery labels and text, etc.  As with the earlier
> discussion on ethnic bias, gender bias is insidious, obvious to those
> whose sensitivities have been raised, and really quite easy to fix.
>
> Pat Roath
> Elizabeth Sage Historic Costume Collection
> Indiana University, Bloomington
> [log in to unmask]
>