[dennisgorelik]

Using "she" is confusing in a similar way as using "they" - just to a lesser degree.

If typical executive is a male, then using "she" needlessly attracts reader's attention due to the unexpected word usage.

Granted, using "she" helps making overall idea of female executive more acceptable, but main focus of this article is "hiring experienced/old employees", not "shifting cultural norm to making females more acceptable for executive roles".

[sophacles]

This is disingenuous to an appalling degree. How does shifting the cultural norm happen if not by doing things that aren't (currently) the cultural norm? Why does one have to toe a line when she doesn't find that OK?

Equally disingenuous is the notion that the author must strip out everything not related to the point as you dennisgorelik sees it (as opposed to the author keeping exactly what the author wants to keep in the article). Perhaps in an article about finding the right experienced employee, where a major theme is "you have to look at it a bit differently than you'd expect", the use of the unexpected gender is a subtle reinforcement point. But sure, people who write never try to use multiple methods to get the idea across - that would be silly and go along with everything most writing courses/books/guides suggest. It must be a political agenda.

[dennisgorelik]

Cultural norms are shifting by doing, not by faking it. Marissa Mayer is shifting "executive's gender" cultural norm. Ben Horowitz - not so much.