How the Pronoun "His" was Used in Elizabethan Literature. Is it time for a change? In the early 18th century, grammarian Robert Lowth suggested that the pronoun "his" should be used in place of "him" or "her" to refer to both sexes. In 1750, English scholar Samuel Richardson also made the same suggestion. Nowadays, we use "he" and "she" to refer to both sexes; but when we were in 16th and 17th centuries, they were not interchangeable. Although this is no longer an issue in current society, there are still many people who believe that they should be...