[beretguy]

> elderly gentleman

> their outhouse collapse, trapping them in it.

You lost me. Were there multiple people trapped in the seat?

[ASalazarMX]

I don't blame you for the downvotes. The gentleman's gender was clear, there was no logical need to neutralize the following sentence. Even more confusing if you're learning English, its language rules are hard enough without additional ideology rules.

[finnethen]

It was perfectly ordinary English, the ideology exists only through your own lens.

[beretguy]

> It was perfectly ordinary English

Except that it was not

[MiguelX413]

https://oed.com/discover/a-brief-history-of-singular-they

Singular they has existed for hundreds of years, it has nothing to do with ideology.