Using male pronouns for someone who is actually female is offputting regardless of your opinion of &quot;correct&quot; grammar.<p>There are plenty of ways to speak in a gender neutral way in English that don&#x27;t involve trying to rationalise using a gender specific pronoun.<p>My preference is for singular &quot;they&quot;. (It&#x27;s not as clunky as &quot;he or she&quot;, and not as confusing for the unfamiliar as &quot;xe&quot; or similar).