I use the singular they all the time. Language evolves, and this is part of the next wave of mutations.
This isn't some bra-burner rhetoric where the English language is supposedly oppressing women or what have you (belieeeve me, I roll my eyes higher and longer than anyone when I see someone whining about the existence of the word "mankind" to refer to all humanity, or see someone getting all pissy over a first-year student being called a freshman) but singular they is really just a matter of efficiency. The way I see it, the purpose of language is to communicate, and if a new convention emerges that becomes widely accepted and allows for greater clarity, then bring that shit on.
"He" as a gender neutral pronoun can be confusing as fuck in a situation where you're referring to a specific person with an unknown gender ("somebody broke into my house last night, but I didn't get a good look at him" implies you know for certain the culprit was male) or a hypothetical situation where the gender doesn't matter ("if anyone wants to try out for soccer, he should stay after school" can give the false impression that only boys are allowed on the team). And let's face it, the dreaded "he or she" can clutter up a sentence like not much else can, especially when you have three or four instances of it back to back. Singular they is an extremely convenient magic bullet here, so dammit, I'll take it!
Re: Writing and Gender
This isn't some bra-burner rhetoric where the English language is supposedly oppressing women or what have you (belieeeve me, I roll my eyes higher and longer than anyone when I see someone whining about the existence of the word "mankind" to refer to all humanity, or see someone getting all pissy over a first-year student being called a freshman) but singular they is really just a matter of efficiency. The way I see it, the purpose of language is to communicate, and if a new convention emerges that becomes widely accepted and allows for greater clarity, then bring that shit on.
"He" as a gender neutral pronoun can be confusing as fuck in a situation where you're referring to a specific person with an unknown gender ("somebody broke into my house last night, but I didn't get a good look at him" implies you know for certain the culprit was male) or a hypothetical situation where the gender doesn't matter ("if anyone wants to try out for soccer, he should stay after school" can give the false impression that only boys are allowed on the team). And let's face it, the dreaded "he or she" can clutter up a sentence like not much else can, especially when you have three or four instances of it back to back. Singular they is an extremely convenient magic bullet here, so dammit, I'll take it!