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[draco]

I'm glad this thread has not yet been infiltrated by advocates of herstory/hustory to balance for the male dominated history. 

History is written by the victors and men have the weapons.

[adhoc]

I'm glad this thread has not yet been infiltrated by advocates of herstory/hustory to balance for the male dominated history. 

History is written by the victors and men have the weapons.

Hmm.  And we (that is we in North America) are about to enter hu-ricane season.

[smart_e_pantz]

I said get along dammit!

[drsyn]

I said get along dammit!

I don't think that anyone's listening.

[infopri]

Or just take a friggin' minute to think about your sentence construction:

"Dear Forumites: One of my colleagues, whose gender I don't to reveal for some obscure reason, has been making my life a living hell.  First my colleague forgot to erase the chalkboard, and then this person left the toilet seat in the wrong position, and finally my bothersome coworker made fun of my attempt to construct a gender-neutral language! What should I do about this wretch?"

Each of the bolded passages could have been written as "hu" but what is the need?

I started to use hu soon after joining the fora because I believed (erroneously, obviously) that it was an agreed-upon convention here.  Even after learning of the controversy, I continued to use it, in spite of my background as a former editor and language purist.  Why?  Because it was convenient, and I grew lazy.

Absolutely nothing is to be gained from further argument. No minds will be changed.

I have to disagree.  Mine has slowly been changing.  The hu-eschewers have been reawakening my inner pedant.  I have been making greater effort to use the language in the way larryc demonstrates in the quote above.  I do it everywhere else in my life, why not on the fora?

Hu-lovers, I'm sorry.  I am not abandoning the good fight for gender-neutral language.  I am merely returning to a different, and I hope more effective, weapon: the many words already available in our language.  I will probably still use hu and its variants here on the fora from time to time, when I'm in a hurry or tired.  Also, I will criticize absolutely no one for his or her continued use of these forms. 

That said, I think it's ridiculous to interpret "hu" as "he" and then consider "he" as some kind of alleged proxy for "he or she."  If you're going to do all these mental gymnastics, why not just read "hu" as "he or she"?  Jeez.

[alex51324]

Does this argument really come up every month?  Because it's just begging to turn up on other-than-fandom wank.  All that needs to happen is for someone to invoke Godwin's law (by comparing either hu-ers or hu-eschewers to Nazis). 

[draco]

Does this argument really come up every month?  Because it's just begging to turn up on other-than-fandom wank.  All that needs to happen is for someone to invoke Godwin's law (by comparing either hu-ers or hu-eschewers to Nazis). 

Hey - we're only hu-man.  And we love to argue, so yep we'll probably be coming back to this topic again.

[prof_mom]

And this is not a snark. 

I didn't take it as a snark, I assumed it was intended to be a joke.

Fighting for gender equality is a joke to you.

What did I say to suggest that?  When did the discussion become about gender equality or inequality? We've mostly been talking about making up a word and pretending that it is English.

Anyway, you said "When men talk about mankind, they are only talking about themselves."  This statement is either a joke or it is simply ridiculous.  I gave you the benefit of the doubt and assumed it was a joke.  I guess you are saying that benefit was undeserved?  You really are being ridiculous?  Well, OK then.

Forget about hu for a minute.

This attitude is what will keep us in the male dominated world. If you really believe that the use of "men" includes women, you are just [insert name calling that would have to be deleted by mods here]. 

"The man went to the park." Does that sound like it could include women?
"Men can go to the park." Do you really believe that anyone would think that includes women?
"All men are created equal."
"Any man who is at least 18 years old is eligible for military service"
"Any man can be president"

Seriously! It is worse to have someone directly discriminate than not include women in the discussion.

[crazybatlady]

As always, Prof Mom is right.

Besides, if "One man and one woman" could mean what you sexist people say it could mean, I'd be married.

cbl

[larryc]

ProfMom has not, however, demonstrated the need for hu.

[crazybatlady]

Myth
 Long afterward, Oedipus, old and blinded, walked the
roads.  He smelled a familiar smell.  It was
the Sphinx.  Oedipus said, "I want to ask one question.
Why didn't I recognize my mother?"  "You gave the
wrong answer," said the Sphinx.  "But that was what
made everything possible," said Oedipus.  "No," she said.
"When I asked, What walks on four legs in the morning,
two at noon, and three in the evening, you answered,
Man.  You didn't say anything about woman."
"When you say Man," said Oedipus, "you include women
too.  Everyone knows that."  She said, "That's what
you think."

    -- Muriel Rukeyser

[_touchedbyanoodle_]

I will not take a stand on the use of hu. I use it occasionally in my posts, sometimes for my own amusement, sometimes out of laziness. I don't see its adoption (or not) as having any real potential to help or hinder the fight for gender equality.

However, I must address the notion that the problem with "hu" is that it is a "fake" or "made up" word. All words are made up, people, all words.

[spork]

Hu are you?
Hu, hu, hu, hu?
Hu are you?
Hu, hu, hu, hu?

I woke up in a campus doorway
A provost knew my name
He said "You can go sleep at home tonight
If you can get up and walk away"

I staggered back to the parking lot
And the breeze blew back my hair
I remember grading students' rot
And preachin' by my chair

Well, hu are you? (Hu are you? Hu, hu, hu, hu?)
I really wanna know (Hu are you? Hu, hu, hu, hu?)
Tell me, hu are you? (Hu are you? Hu, hu, hu, hu?)
'Cause I really wanna know (Hu are you? Hu, hu, hu, hu?)

I drove my Volvo out of town
Like a shark without a fin
I felt like my cap and gown
Smelled much too much like gin

I stretched back and I hiccupped
And looked back on my busy day
Eleven hours in the office
God, there's got to be another way

Hu are you?
Ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ...
Hu are you?

I know there's a quad you walk
Where As fall from the trees
My heart is like a broken thong
Torn to shreds by bees

I lecture like a sewer germ
Yet still recieve good evals
How can I measure up to last term
If students aren't my pals?

[Pete Townsend, please forgive me]

[malcha]

Dear Spork
    It is too early in the day.  I did not have my spew shield engaged yet.  The state of my keyboard is your fault.
        malcha

[francie_]

"Hu - Proposed by activist feminist academics as a gender neutral pronoun. The plural of hu is hus."

Also not true, unless "Jake Shivery" is female.

http://www.hupronoun.org/

P.S.  Thanks, Mod Squad, for moving this thread off Classroom.