Should I use [sic] when quoting sexist language?

Probably not. [Sic] is used to avoid culpability for grammatical, spelling, or style errors in quoted text - it basically means "this does not match my style manual". The thing is, the use of his or he to denote a generic third person of unspecified gender has been acceptable for a very long time. If you put [sic] after it, many readers may not be able to identify the "error" that you're calling attention to. [Sic] should only answer questions that the reader might have (was that actually the quote or just a misprint?), not raise questions (what's wrong with this quote at all?).

Although the use of gender-specific pronouns is falling out of favor, Feynman's quote is perfectly grammatical and does not necessarily assume a gender - he's working within the limitations of the English language, as there are no universally accepted, gender-neutral, third-person pronouns that can directly replace he or she. Putting [sic] here will probably only confuse the reader.


This does not seem like a very normal usage of "sic" as it related to changing social norms, rather than a misspelling or error, per se. Is there no way you could provide some context outside the quote -- i.e. a line of your own afterwards?