Possible Duplicate:
Is there a correct gender-neutral, singular pronoun (“his” versus “her” versus “their”)?
I am sure this has been asked before, I just don't know how to put the problem in a few words.
I am concerned about using third-person pronouns when refering to a person indirectly, through status, occupation, role, etc... Example sentence:
A free person can do whatever (he / she / he or she / they) think please(s) (him / her / him or her / them).
How should I avoid the controversial use of he and she? Currently I am converting these cases into plurar, so I would write:
Free people can do whatever they think please them.
But what if I must refer to precisely one person? Using "he" is discouraged, using "she" feels wrong for the same reason, using "he or she" is clumsy and sounds "over-correct". I have been encountering "she" in literature, but is there an alternative?
