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Is it really necessary to use gender-neutral language? It is very important to use non-sexist language, even if a person does not have any discriminative intentions at all. Everyone, consciously or not, tends to assign masculine gender to terms, such as "man", even when this word is used for "human beings". "Man", amongst other expressions or grammatical constructions, should be avoided. Every language reflects the prejudices of the society in which it evolved, and it …

…convincing, but also a non-sexist language is central to credibility. If someone uses language that people find either offensive or inaccurate, they will lose faith in the writer's arguments. The purpose of argumentation is persuasion, and people cannot get persuaded when they are offended. People should use gender-neutral language, because otherwise it can communicate sexism to some people. If it is possible to avoid offence only by substituting some expressions, it ought to be done.