Imogen Howson: Incidentally, I'm pretty sure that "fellow" as an adjective rather than a noun *is* gender-neutral. But I'm guessing you're wanting to avoid both the actuality and the impression of gendered language, so that may not be relevant in this case?

HEY HELP you know how you say "My fellow Americans" or "My fellow writers" is there a not-gendered word I can use there? I realize that it's supposedly gender neutral but I wish for a gender inclusive choice. did anyone ever coin something?

That's a tricky one, because although there are various nouns that could replace "fellow" the noun (companions, associates, colleagues), here, "fellow" is being used as an adjective not a noun, and something like "associate" doesn't work in that context. E.g. "My associate writers" sounds weird.

I might go for something like "My writers-in-arms", but that has a military connotation that some people might prefer to avoid.

Incidentally, I'm pretty sure that "fellow" as an adjective rather than a noun *is* gender-neutral. But I'm guessing you're wanting to avoid both the actuality and the impression of gendered language, so that may not be relevant in this case?

I once had to give a speech at a writers' awards event, and wanted to avoid "Ladies and gentleman," so went with, "Dear writers, editors, agents..."

yes. it's exactly that: the actuality and the impression.

Yup, that makes sense! (And the adjective probably derives from the noun, so one could argue it still carries a connotation of gender.) Fascinating question, anyway. I've been racking my brain!

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