Babies are automatically boys

[ourglass]

Just sorting out some old baby books today. You know, the ones about brining up your baby etc. I had never noticed they had called the baby a 'he'. It says in most books they say he but mean he or she. Does this make sense? Why say he? Why not she? Male dominance starts early doors then.

How old were the books? IIRC the ones I had (eg Penelope Leach) didn't do this (I'd have probably chucked any out if they had).

I think what it expect when you're expecting used she. Although I didn't find the book very useful. Mumsnet guides use she as well.

I read a tip on here about using a mix of pronouns when talking about animals. I'm trying to do that with Ds but it's surprisingly difficult.

I don't remember this in the books we used.

(Books are now 10 years old (time we found a new home for them!))

I have old books that were my mum's in the 1960s and babies in those were always referred to as 'he'. But I remember when I got books from the library when I was expecting my first child that DH and I remarked on how the modern books always referred to the baby as 'she', we always thought that they were trying to balance things out for how it was in the past. We noticed in in baby magazines too. although what I was doing buying those awful baby magazines is anyone's guess

Most books I read used she, I think I noticed it more because both my children are boys.

I didn't have any real 'baby' books (have ones like How to talk....) but in the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (La Leche League) they use he a lot of the time but explain this at the beginning of the book - as they are talking just to mums they use he so it's easier to differentiate between mum and baby.
I've noticed it happening in general conversation though - man two doors down was asking me questions about my chickens and used 'he' and 'him' consistently . It's something I always pick DH and my DC up on and talk about how male is the default including the green person when crossing the road.

But, I wouldn't expect it if aimed at parenting in general I can just see the point in the WAB even if I don't entirely agree with it.

I read one (can't remember which one) that specifically said in the introduction that she refers to the baby as 'he' because it avoids any uncertainty about whether mother or baby is being referred to (or long winded sentences to avoid that confusion). That made sense to me.

Except cats Wotomania. Weirdly I have noticed they are often she.

It's only very recent that "she" is being used some of the time, in any situation where sex is unknown or unspecified.

I first heard "she" being mixed in with "he" when I was 20, at university, by a visiting professor from the US discussing hypothetical legal cases. This was 15 years ago. We were all so taken aback by it, that one student even asked the professor why he was using "she" in some of his legal stories. It seemed so odd at the time: completely unheard of.

Times have changed pretty swiftly since then, in books and written material that people stop to think about what they are writing.

But in day to day situations, like an OP mentioned above, it's still "he" as default, all the time. My dog is a female, for example, but strangers on the street refer to her as "he". Every time. Including mothers talking to their children, and therefore teaching them that way that the default sex is always "he".

I think goat put it better than I did. People just use 'he' as the default and it pisses me off.

Goat - I call them all she. Then the dog owners get weirdly offended

High-five, Penguins. From my dog too

OP wrote - "in most books they say he but mean he or she. Does this make sense? Why say he? Why not she?"

I think there could be at least two reasons why "he" is favoured in books referred to by the OP.

1. The authors may be applying subconscious patriarchal bias of males having higher social value, automatically being treated as the default "normal".

2. In the worldwide human population, 52% of babies are boys and 48% are girls, so most babies actually are "he"s.

Well yes, we know that but why not write she? Why automatically write he? I totally agree with your point no 1!

When I edited a baby magazine we were quite strict about alternating he and she in articles.

Penguins - cats are usually called 'she' because they're fluffy.

See I think it is because they are aloof and unpredictable.

Dogs are male because they are straightforward and loyal. and because it is the default.

DD1 has a book where the cat is male and the dog is female. The fact I noticed says something.

I'm sure the saintly Penelope Leach randomly alternated he and she which I actually found a bit irritating.

On talking about dogs I randomly and illogically allocate he to big dogs and she to small dogs and then immediately ask . The size thing is generally correct with cats.

D1 has a book where the cat is male and the dog is female

I think the fabulous Custard in Roobarb and Custard despite being fuschia pink was male.

It's the way everything was until relatively recently I think?

It's interesting at work that occasionally someone will refer to a person as "he" when it could be a man or a woman and it's terribly jarring, which goes to show that we have moved the language away from "man as default" quite a lot.

Personally I am quite comfortable with them / they although I understand very well why so many people don't like it. It we're going to move away from male as default we will need to evolve a generally accepted, non cumbersome (he or she is ridiculous and painful and the man comes first anyway with the woman as the added on afterthought to appease ) so it'll be interesting to see where we end up.

Yes. "they" is grammatically incorrect and therefore a bit jarring, but I think it's our best alternative. It's a word that already exists, and people understand what is meant by it in context ("he or she").

And using an equal mix of "he" and "she" when we're describing hypothetical situations.

It is from an old grammatical rule that he is the default pronoun (and "she" isn't), but of course that's intimately connected to wider patriarchal structures. It's surprisingly hard to break, though - I have caught myself using it as a default and have already noticed DD applying male pronouns and appelations to neutral objects ("hello Mr train, hello Mr car" )