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Is it customary to use his instead of her even if you refer only to women like in my example below. It is a comment to a woman from a woman, likely referring to only women. Shouldn't you say "her own way"?

Everybody is naughty in his own way dear.

It's not if it should be his/her or their. It is if it is about women, should you not use her instead of him? Basically does it mean that the person saying it is a man not a woman?

Ellie Kesselman
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Angelica Nord
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  • I don't know what ELL is. It's not meant as a hypothetical question but has a practical implication. – Angelica Nord Jan 25 '15 at 21:06
  • Once, I seem to remember, 'Everybody is naughty in his own way, you know' would have been read as a genderless comment by most people. Then the more logical his/her was introduced as a replacement; this would have been fine were it not so ugly. So his/her in turn is being replaced by their in a second role. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 26 '15 at 00:26
  • @EdwinAshworth. So you don't think it's someone pretending to be a woman writing his out of habit? Because this was about women specifically not people in general. In my native language you would always specify the gender according to the factual circumstance. Excuse if I'm not very academical here but have more practical reasons. Kiss Angelica. – Angelica Nord Jan 26 '15 at 11:47
  • If it's a particular example you want to discuss, all you can do is ask the author what they (!) meant. It might even have been a mistake. I've known someone use 'her' for a male referent (they were embarrassed when they realised). // Obviously 'her' is required in 'Every mother should make sure that her baby ...', but 'Every parent should make sure that their baby ...' is replacing 'his/her' and 'his or her'. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 26 '15 at 15:45
  • I can't ask her, if it is a her, well thanks anyway. – Angelica Nord Jan 26 '15 at 18:08

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