For me, the first meeting with this sort of writting came back in my old WoD playing days (because no one in my town was playing anything else).
I am not a native English speaker but it has always struck me as awkward and having a creepy pussyfication agenda behind it.
Noisms is right. "He" can be used for gender-neutrality in English written language. Perhaps it was not designed to do so originally, but we have used it for that purpouse for...gee hundreds of years? When a technical manual refers to the user as "He", that user can be of either gender. FACT
The use of "She", however is a 100% not gender-neutral. Whenever it is used it forcefuly implies a human being of the feminine gender. No way about it. FACT
Again, I don't care if the above is grammatically incorrect. It's how the language is used nowdays. Grammar should evolve. FACT
On a different matter, that story about cheesecake art is so insane it is hard to believe. Who the hell where those women? Where their precious feelings offended by the scantly clad babe art? Did they feel diminuished by not being able to compete with those fictional females?
Get a shrink for Christ's sake! If they feelt that strongly about it then fine. Don't buy the products and leave the damn hobby and industry. Don't let the door slam your arse on the way out.
Just don't interfere with other people's enjoyment of cheesecake art.
I mean...I'm a small, weak and ugly guy. I am sure most males on these forums aren't exactly adonis-like either. RPG covers are filled with tall, muscular, hansome beefcake dudes. Should we feel offended and demand the art to be changed? I know I would loose all respect for myself if I let such a childish thing bother me.
I think this whole issue is simply PC gone off the tracks...again. Maybe some day we will see tampons and comdoms will carring instruction manuals with a 50/50 gender pronoun spread. :rolleyes: