Should I use [sic] when quoting sexist language?

Question

From R. P. Feynman, "The character of physical law":

If it disagrees with experiment, it's wrong. In that simple statement is the key to science. It doesn't make any difference how beautiful your guess is, it doesn't make any difference how smart you are, who made the guess, or what his name is. If it disagrees with experiment, it's wrong. That's all there is to it.

Feynman is assuming here that a scientist must be male. Should I point this out by adding [sic] after "his"?

Nuclear Hoagie · Accepted Answer

Probably not. [Sic] is used to avoid culpability for grammatical, spelling, or style errors in quoted text - it basically means "this does not match my style manual". The thing is, the use of his or he to denote a generic third person of unspecified gender has been acceptable for a very long time. If you put [sic] after it, many readers may not be able to identify the "error" that you're calling attention to. [Sic] should only answer questions that the reader might have (was that actually the quote or just a misprint?), not raise questions (what's wrong with this quote at all?).

Although the use of gender-specific pronouns is falling out of favor, Feynman's quote is perfectly grammatical and does not necessarily assume a gender - he's working within the limitations of the English language, as there are no universally accepted, gender-neutral, third-person pronouns that can directly replace he or she. Putting [sic] here will probably only confuse the reader.

Q Science · Answer

First of all, this is not sexist. The use of "his" here is because in Feynman's time the singular "they," the correct pronoun, was highly discouraged. Essentially, in an attempt to make English more like Latin, English writers would use the masculine as a gender-neutral pronoun (because, due to slightly complicated linguistic reasons*, that's how it's done in Latin) instead of the correct singular "they." That is what is occurring here. So,

Putting [sic] here is acceptable.

English is not Latin, and as much as old style guides (like the ones Feynman would have been using) will tell you otherwise, you can't use a masculine pronoun to refer to a gender-indeterminate antecedent.

*The linguistic reason is that Proto-Indo-European (PIE), from which Latin and English both developed, originally had one gender (what is now the masculine) and not three. The neuter was developed later to refer to inanimate objects, so the masculine referred to animate objects. Finally the feminine was created for abstract nouns like "philosophia." So in a group containing a person, an object, and a concept, the person obviously takes precedence, and in Latin that is exactly what happens.

B. Findlay · Answer

This does not seem like a very normal usage of "sic" as it related to changing social norms, rather than a misspelling or error, per se. Is there no way you could provide some context outside the quote -- i.e. a line of your own afterwards?

Answered by B. Findlay on July 1, 2021

Andrew · Answer

As an undergraduate in 1991 (30 years ago) I was taught that it is not acceptable to let quoted, historically-sexist language pass without some acknowledgement. Unless you are writing a paper about historical gender norms, I suggest you use "he [sic]". In your own writing, use "they" as a singular pronoun. If you need backup, insert a footnote telling the reader that The Chicago Manual of Style has accepted the singular form of "they / them / their" since 2017. The times, they are a-changin' ...

Answered by Andrew on July 1, 2021

Should I use [sic] when quoting sexist language?

4 Answers

Putting [sic] here is acceptable.

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