Anyone attempting to navigate through the maze of what is now considered appropriate, politically correct and tolerant is facing a head-spinning new turn.
Harvard University announced that, effective July 16, Vanidy M. Bailey will begin working on faculty as the director of bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender and queer student life.
Shortly after excitedly announcing Bailey's hire, The Crimson, Harvard's newspaper, was forced to make a correction. Apparently, the paper had the audacity to refer to Bailey, who is a woman, as "she." As a result, Bailey was so offended that the article referred to her by a gender-specific pronoun that an apology was requested.
The correction, published in the July 3 edition of The Crimson, states: "An earlier version of this article used the pronoun 'she' to refer to Vanidy 'Van' Bailey, the newly appointed director of bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender and queer student life. In fact, Bailey prefers not to be referred to by any gendered pronoun."
According to Bailey's preferred rule of pronoun usage, the sentence "In Van's new position, she will use her knowledge to assist students who seek her guidance" should instead read:
• "In Van's new position, Van will use Van's knowledge to assist students who seek Van's guidance," or,
• "In Van's new position, it will use its knowledge to assist students who seek its guidance."
The exclusion of he, she, her, him, his and hers from the English language would make even Shakespeare and Faulkner less compelling and more frustrating than the assembly instructions for an Ikea desk.
Bailey's silly politically correct form of pronoun usage has already reached the halls of America's oldest institution of higher learning. For the sake of the sanity of third-grade English teachers everywhere, let's hope that it goes no further than that.