Singular 'they' has been in use for far longer than gender-neutral 'he', and is more inclusive. It is also used in virtually all modern tech writing. I'm really not sure what people have against it.
The use of they, their, them, and themselves as pronouns of indefinite gender and indefinite number is well established in speech and writing, even in literary and formal contexts. This gives you the option of using the plural pronouns where you think they sound best, and of using the singular pronouns (as he, she, he or she, and their inflected forms) where you think they sound best.
I think it's known as a singular they, which is gender neutral and possibly more politically correct. When I was learning grammar back in the day it was a no-no.
In addition to what some others are saying here, they is often used as a singular gender neutral pronoun and not a specific pronoun that excludes the others.
I use singular they all the time, especially online where people are accounts and not people.
As a grammar nerd, I call bullshit. "They" as gender-neutral singular pronoun has been part of the English language for centuries, and it's only in the last hundred years or so (give or take a bit, I don't have time to look it up right now) that prescriptivists have started freaking out about it. Yeah, it's a little awkward, but modern English NEEDS a gender-neutral singular pronoun, and "they" is the best we have.
It was good enough for Shakespeare, and it's good enough for me.
They is technically plural. There is no good singular gender neutral pronoun. So, "he/she", "s/he", "he" or "they" are fine by me; we know what the author means.
> Isn't using "them/they" in the singular to avoid gendered pronouns still considered grammatically incorrect?
No. Singular they has never been grammatically incorrect. The frequency of its use has simply varied throughout the years. For what it's worth, singular they seems to predate gender-neutral 'he' in written English.
In this case, you're right. Or at least, it's what I'd have done. Still, when I learned English, "they" wasn't singular. I guess that it's the norm now, but it still feels odd. And sometimes using it does require mangling. I'd rather have a set of gender-neutral pronouns, but hey.
The thing about singular they is that it only really became "perfectly good usage for longer than people think" within the last few years, well after the heyday of Usenet. I don't think it was even a major contender for the English language gender-neutral singular pronoun before then.
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