Do not use ‘he’ to refer to unknown people
Using ‘man’ to mean all people collectively propagates the invisibility and omission of women; using ‘he’ to represent any given individual does the same.
Avoid using ‘he’ when referring to the generic experience of all people as this removes women from the common experience.
Examples
Gender-discriminatory language
The responsible citizen will report anything suspicious he sees to the police.
Gender-sensitive language
The responsible citizen will report anything suspicious he or she sees to the police.
Gender-discriminatory language
Each applicant must submit his resumé.
Aaron Amat, The applicant, Shutterstock
Hmm, I guess it's not for me.
Gender-sensitive language
Each applicant must submit his or her resumé.
Tip: Some people have begun to use gender-neutral pronouns in place of traditional gender pronouns. One example of this is ‘ze’. E.g. Ze, Hir, Hirs. Hirself E.g. ‘Ze does hir homework hirself’. This can be a way of including people of non-binary gender in the discussion.