&gt; It does, however, make it harder for most women to participate here<p>I&#x27;ve seen many people make this claim, but I haven&#x27;t seen anyone back it up with evidence. What do you mean by &quot;harder&quot;? Do you mean &quot;more difficult&quot;? In what way?<p>Right now, I believe claims that tiny linguistic differences create meaningful barriers to female participation in technology are all specious. I could be convinced otherwise, but have seen no evidence that might move me.<p>&gt; If you do not know my gender, it takes very little effort to speak in a way that admits you do not know it<p>English is not structured to be gender-neutral. I&#x27;m not going to use awkward circumlocutions to avoid the possibility of offending someone.