Pete Seeger left the world today at age 94, leaving a legacy of world-changing songs. A tireless champion of equal rights, he applied both his ethics and his artist's ear to the English language in a 1974 letter to Ms. magazine, excerpted below.
"The words congressperson and chairperson are awkward words, typical of the ugly words created by scholars and scientists....Why not use a vowel like o: congresso or chairo? And for those who don’t’ want to use the syllable man, likewise change foreman, boilerman, anchorman, newspaperman. et cêtera.The language, agreed, needs more neutral words. Now’s the time to make the changes more creatively. Incidentally, we might as well face it: we’ve got to invent some neutral pronouns. Saying “his or her” all the time is awkward unless we want to slur it into “hizar.”
As a man, perhaps I have no right to make such suggestions, but as a user of words, I think I do. Building a new and livable world will necessitate thousands of little changes.
P.S. I’ve been the chairo of many committees, and I like the word.
Pete Seeger
Beacon, New York
February 5, 1974"
--From Letters to Ms., 1972-1987
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Pete Seeger, Folk Hero and Feminist Linguist
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