Why does the Bible refer to children as “sons” but not (generally) “daughters”? The reason is clear that using the generic masculine was commonplace in the society of the biblical authors. It was simply a matter of how people spoke and thought. In modern English, we also employed the generic masculine for centuries; when referring to an unknown individual, “he” was a suitable replacement for “she.” People in the West have become sensitive to gender-specific vocabulary in modern discourse; for example, it is considered sexist to refer to a firefighter as a “fireman” even if he is clearly a man. Since the plural is gender-neutral, English language learners are taught to use “he or she” or, more frequently, “they” (even when referring to a single individual).
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