wasperformed FacialSurgery.com
Steven M. Denenberg, M.D.
Dr. Denenberg's articles on Medium.com.

The use of pronouns on FacialSurgery.com

When we refer to a plastic surgeon in the text on the pages of this Web site, we say "the surgeon," or "the plastic surgeon," or "your doctor," but sometimes it's easier to refer to "the surgeon" as "he" or "she," or to use the other gender-specific pronouns that hold positions of direct or indirect objects or show possession. We will use the convention of always using the male pronouns when referring to the plastic surgeon, not because we are assuming that all plastic surgeons are male, but rather because in English the male pronouns can be used as a placeholder for either male or female. Thus, we will be able to write:

Your plastic surgeon can give you his opinion about ...

rather than having to use either of the following poor alternatives:

  • Your plastic surgeon can give you his/her opinion about ...
  • Your plastic surgeon can give you his or her opinion about ...
  • Your plastic surgeon can give you their opinion about ...

In the nominative case, we will also be able to avoid such terrible constructs as "he or she," "he/she," "s/he," "(s)he, ...." Oy vey.  You get the idea. Don't think that we are slighting females, because we are not. We are using a standard English writing convention to keep the prose simple and understandable.