Learn English – I’m confused with the use of ‘herself”

genderpronounsreflexive-pronouns

The customer can serve herself, and then pay for the goods with the minimum of delay.

In the sentence, the customer can be a male or female. But the pronoun 'herself' has been used. I'm confused with the use of 'herself'. Please explain it to me.

Best Answer

We don't have widely-adopted gender neutral singular pronouns. The authors are trying to avoid using himself to describe both genders, and so use herself. This is quite a common practice. Other possibilities might be to say himself or herself, or customers can serve themselves.

See this reference for plenty of detail

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