| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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5. Gender: Sexist Language and Assumptions
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| § 20. hero / heroine |
| Many writers now consider hero, long restricted to males, to be a gender-neutral term. Its use to refer to admired men or women is increasing; 63 percent of the Usage Panel approves of the word as used to describe Rosa Parks, the woman who galvanized the civil rights movement in the United States by refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus. The word heroine is still useful and acceptable, however, in referring to the principal female character of a fictional work such as a novel or a dramatic production: Jane Eyre is a well-known literary heroine. Ninety-four percent of usage panelists accept this usage. | 1 |
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| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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