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It is increasingly regarded as good practice to avoid unnecessary reference to gender. Wherever possible, choose a gender-neutral alternative, for example, camera operator or police officer for words like cameraman or policewoman. Do not use he/him/his/etc. or she/her/etc., to refer to people of unspecified gender, as in A child of his age should be able to dress himself. In this example, the best solution is to recast the sentence in the plural: Children of that age should be able to dress themselves. In other cases, they/them/their may be used as gender-neutral singular forms, though many people object to constructions such as Each student should proofread their essay. A less controversial but more cumbersome option is he or she/him or her/his or her, as in Each student should proofread his or her essay. See also -ess, -person, and they.
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