When 'He' Also Meant 'She'
A uniform school bill ended legal doubts about women serving as county superintendents and school directors—and ordered that masculine pronouns in the school law include women.
Senator Wilson's bill for a uniform school system was passed. It puts an end to all questions as to the legality of a woman holding the office of county superintendent or school director, and whoever now reads 'he' or 'his' in section 75 of the school law shall be understood to mean also 'she' or 'her.'
“Whoever now reads 'he' or 'his' in section 75 of the school law shall be understood to mean also 'she' or 'her.'”
The fight over pronouns in statute is not a 21st-century invention. In 1895 Washington lawmakers had to write women into a law that had used 'he' and 'his' as defaults—a reminder that legal language decides who counts.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.