[paulddraper]

Using masculine nouns/pronouns in the generic sense is a long-standing tradition in English: "man", "men", "he".

In fact, German (the primary origin of English grammar) uses "Mann" for "male person" and "man" for "you/one/a person".

Sadly, it seems English is unacceptable to a vocal part of the population.

I wonder if it is related English's general _lack_ of gender. In languages where everything has a "gender", people learn that grammar does not have to have a perfect match. German "Mädchen" ("girl") is neuter, and "Bikini" (loan word) is masculine, but those are simply odd parts of the language and everyone gets over it.