Interesting, (but if it is what the title say, you shouldn't ask for our appreciation, Ian ;-)). Seriously (?) I think that you confound between cultural language (which can be sexist, according to dominant culture) and individual proto language (which is always feminine in the first baby-mom relationship and then masculine, even for lassies, when they grow a little bit and learn that the world doesn't end past their mothers: the awareness of being "other" which predates sexual difference awareness). Not that I have the slightest idea of how this presumed mistake by you can help or hinder the comprehension and/or confutation of your theory :-)
Then let me add that, FWIW, in Italy we use TU and
INDICATIVE tense in parithetical and usually familiar
or older to younger realtionship. We use the SHE (LEI
in italian, third singular feminine person; becomes
THEY, i.e. LORO, when one need to address a plural
number of people formally) and CONJUNCTIVE tense for
formal, younger to older, minor to major ones.
There is the older, slightly mafioso, undoubtedly
fascist use of YOU, VOI (2nd plural person) and there
is also the slangish, vernacular and incorrect use of
HE, LUI (3rd singular masculine person).
The grammatically correct form is the first (SHE), but
southern Italy's YOU is also correct even if not on
TV.
Our language is in this way more prone to servilism
and to bezantinism and to indirect polite conversation
and discussion forms than the average anglo-saxon
tongue (mirroring the tortuosity of our culture and
society).
Third and last: moths ago I had with John Hughes a short but stimulating "conversation" about the nature of perception of Cosmic Sexism in Glorantha. The final question was: are Gods, like Orlanth and Ernalda, really male and female or is their worshippers' vision and society that which needs to attribute a sex even to gods and so has (artificially) called them male and female?
Ciao,
Gian
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