Talk:Margery Deane

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Women writers Low‑importance

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Authoress and author edit

Latest comment: 9 years ago3 comments2 people in discussion

See WP:MOS "Where more than one style is acceptable, editors should not change an article from one of those styles to another without a good reason". The article started out with Authoress there is no good reason to change it. -- PBS (talk) 20:24, 17 September 2014 (UTC)Reply

Hi PBS. Sorry for reverting you there. I only just realized that your edit was a reversion of one of my edits from over a year ago. But I do have a good reason. I recognize that some people still use the term "authoress" and even support women who self-describe that way. My hope though, is that here on Wikipedia, we can start to use this term more infrequently. The term "authoress" is currently used 326 times on the English Wikipedia and most of those are cases of self-descriptions or quotations. I'm glad that you brought up WP:MOS, because our manual of style also directs us to "use gender-neutral language where this can be done with clarity and precision". I think that is the case here. WP:GNL and WP:MODLANG also provide guidance in this instance. As for the use of the term "authoress" please consider that:

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, authoress is "now used only when sex is purposely emphasized; otherwise, ...author is now used of both sexes."
World Book Dictionary labels the term authoress "archaic".
Collins English Dictionary gives authoress the caveat "Now usually disparaging", also old-fashioned; derogatory
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English says authoress is "old-fashioned"
the WordReference English-French Dictionary calls authoress "dated"
the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary calls authoress "old-fashioned"
The Columbia Guide to Standard American English refers to authoress as "archaic or even obsolete"

I also note that one of the sources used on this article, Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography, refers to her as an "author" (and this was written in 1900). Nonetheless, I'm grateful that you started this article in the first place and I hope you'll join us over at WikiProject Women writers. gobonobo ⁺ ^c 21:03, 17 September 2014 (UTC)Reply

I created the article as part of the clean up of the various dab pages that included links to Wikisource, so I deserve no credit there, although I have created or expanded article on females in the areas in which I am interested.

I am not sure which version of the Oxford English Dictionary to which you have access but the online version states:

"The female writer of a book or other work; a female author.

The gender-neutral author is now often preferred."

In this case authoress is useful because it succinctly informs the reader of the lead that the person described is female (Margery is not exactly a common female name), as well as their notability.

Authoress is no more or less demeaning than author. I do not see anything wrong with identifying the sex of the person through common words. There are some job description that are sex neutral, but there are others which are not. . -- PBS (talk) 22:02, 17 September 2014 (UTC)Reply

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