[hughguiney]

As someone who has been stressing over “needing a cofounder” lately, this is an encouraging and timely post.

However, I dislike the phrasing here:

> a 100% owner requires half the earning power of 50/50 partners–that gives him a huge advantage.

…which assumes the founder is going to be a man.

[dontscale]

Thank you Hugh. I thought about pronoun choice when I wrote that. I was deliberating between 'her' or 'him or her'. The problem I had with the former is I always notice when male writers do it--I can tell it's deliberate. The problem with the latter is it breaks rhythm a little, I think.

In my mind, the sexes are equal so him == her. It's something I feel strongly about too especially having a daughter. But nonetheless I understand the implications of what I wrote.

edit: Oh, and I upvoted you :-)

[sidawson]

For future reference - gender neutral pronouns are super easy to use and don't detract from the reading flow at all.

In this case: "...that gives them a huge advantage."

(and "their" for his/her)

[hughguiney]

While I appreciate your viewpoint, it is not obvious to the reader. I think it is more important to not alienate women any more than already happens in this industry, than it is to form a sentence that has a certain rhythm. I would also examine why male pronouns “sound right” while non-male ones “don’t”.

And I agree with @sidawson that gender-neutral pronouns maintain the same rhythm besides.

Edit: And thank you for the upvote. I am glad that you are open to constructive criticism even if the crabby status-quo-loving anonymous users aren’t.

[Douceur]

Girls aren't that fragile either ;)

I probably feel this way because I'm so used with male pronouns to the point that it's become gender-neutral - but this might just be me. Weirdly enough, it annoys me to see female pronouns alongside male because it reminds me that gender does matter (Disclaimer: I am female).

I agree with you though, definitely more women is needed in this industry, but I personally can't see how adjusting pronouns can help very much. Something that's not being addressed properly is subtle sexism: prejudice at subconscious level that we don't realise about but is painfully obvious to the other person. I have worked with colleagues who I regretfully classify as "boy's clubs", because they would automatically change their tone towards me and sometimes even ignore completely. You might say that there could be a thousand other reasons for this, like perhaps I'm not communicating very clearly, but when you share the same interests, when your dismissed suggestions gets "suggested" by themselves later on, and when all this becomes a daily occurrence ... you can't help but think of the worst.

How this problem can be tackled, I'm not sure. We all have a certain level of prejudice though, so maybe this is a "spiritual" thing rather than a cause for activism.

[hughguiney]

Downvoted already! Sexism in tech is alive and well I see.