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There are three possible ways to indicate gender of the noun of a dual gender.
1. When a relative arrives, he will be let in and his arrival will be welcome by everyone.
2. When a relative arrives, he or she (he/she) will be let in and his or her (his/her) arrival will be
welcome by everyone.
3. When a relative arrives, they will be let in and their arrival will be welcome by everyone.
The use of "he" in the first sentence is considered sexist; the use of "he and she," etc. is a bit awkward,
especially in speech; in the third case "they" is used with a singular meaning which is incorrect, but still
quite common, especially in informal English.
The language reflects the situation in society. Societal change and language change go hand in hand.
This explains the possibility of one sentence and the impossibility of the other one:
I pronounce you man and wife (not: man and woman, husband and wife, woman and husband), the
pronouncement gives a picture of woman as man's possession.
Mary is a divorcee (not: John is a divorce).
Mrs John Smith (not: Mr Mary Smith).
She is John's widow (not: He is Mary's widower).
They indulged in wife swapping (not: They indulged in husband swapping).
"Man" was originally fully generic (Man breakfasts his young;
One man, one vote) but over years it stopped being felt as such and this masculine bias can sound odd
to a speaker of English.
"Lady" is used out of exaggerated politeness since a woman of high station and breeding was
traditionally meant. Some people dislike to use "lady" because of its connection with class distinctions.
To some people "lady" is synonymous with good manners. "Female" is used in an official, scientific or
clinical contexts for a person, plant, animal that bears young.
Traditional social roles were formerly expressed by compound nouns with -man or -woman as the
second component of the noun. A neutral form for both sexes is preferred by most people now as they
object to terms that show the sex of the person who is doing the work.
Traditional male Traditional female Non-sexist neutral
chairman chairwoman chair (person)
barman barmaid bartender
businessman businesswoman businessperson/executive
fireman — fire fighter
headmaster headmistress head (teacher)
postman postwoman postie/postal worker
salesman saleswoman salesperson/sales representative
spokesman spokeswoman spokesperson
steward stewardess/air flight attendant
hostess
bachelor¹ spinster¹ unmarried/single man/woman
fiance fiancee partner
mankind — human beings
man and wife — man and woman,
husband and wife
all men everywhere — all people everywhere
boys and girls (as — people
an address in a class)
1
May have negative associations.
Some words will still be used in the traditional way, such as "fisherwoman" was never thought of.
Look at this rather sexist advertisement for an airline. Change the wording to make it neutral.
Now! Eagle Airlines offers even more to the businessman