We have no sammich but writing lessons are free #nosammich

Never let it be said that I don't offer up solutions when I point out problems...

Luckily for you, I happened to pick up a short book on improving your writing style from a charity sale a few weeks ago. One of the items Richard Andersen and Helene Hinis cover in Write It Right is removing biased language from communications. So here are some tips from the experts on how to remove gender bias from your own writing:

Do you think the fuss over sexist writing is trivial? You need to catch up to the times. Sexist language patronizes, implies second-class status, and is demeaning.

The most common problem with sexist statements is demonstrated in the following sentence construction:

Each supervisor must hand in his proposal.

Because we've been taught to choose the masculine case when pronouns include both men and women, the traditionally correct choice in this sentence construction is his. But his offends the sensibilities of people living in our age of enlightened consciousness. To substitute the word they is now considered grammatically correct, according to no less an august publication than the Oxford English Dictionary, but we would rish offening many traditional grammarians if we used they. A "supervisor" isn't a they. To satisfy both the enlightened and the traditional, consider these alternatives:

• Use the word or: Each supervisor must hand in his or her proposal.
• Use the plural form: All supervisors must hand in their proposals.
• Use the words the, a, or an: Each supervisor must hand in a proposal.
• Use the words you or your: As a supervisor, you must hand in your proposal.