'One' is the loveliest pronoun

It's no secret that from the women's lib movement of the 1970s to today's age of gender fluidity, personal pronouns have taken a beating. The problem is our language doesn't include a good gender inclusive singular personal pronoun. I distinctly remember being told by my eighth grade English teacher that the masculine (he, him, his) should be used when gender is not being specified. This didn't sit well with me in the late '70s, and it still doesn't.

When I was in graduate school in the early '90s, I noticed a bit of a backlash against the generic masculine, in which many scholarly authors had taken to using the feminine generically instead of the masculine. While that pointed out the problem, it didn't really offer a viable solution, and since then has faded from use.

My solution for many years was to use both the masculine and feminine together (him or her, his or hers, he or she), and while this could be viable in many situations, it could be awkward as well, especially when the pronouns need to be repeated in the same sentence. 

Interestingly, we have solved this problem in conversational language by using plural pronouns (they, them, their) in the singular, and it is gaining acceptance in written language as well. Most scholars and language experts still maintain that parallel construction should be maintained whenever possible (e.g., Children should do their homework before watching television, instead of A child should do their homework before watching television). In other words, when you use plural pronouns, it is still better to make the entire sentence plural; however, that view has become noticeably relaxed in recent years as our society attempts to accommodate gender fluidity, especially as people who consider themselves to be gender nonbinary embrace plural pronouns as an alternative to their gender-tagged counterparts.

But there is another alternative that, in my opinion, is too often overlooked. The use of 'one' as a singular, gender inclusive pronoun may sound a little formal and old fashioned to those who aren't accustomed to hearing or reading it, but it also conveys a certain simple elegance, as in 'Whether one chooses the steak or the lobster, the meal will be delicious'. 

The simplicity and inherent inclusiveness of 'one' make it an excellent tool for making written language both correct and comprehensible at a time when so much else, linguistically speaking, remains in flux.

To be sure, it can lend itself to awkwardness, especially with overuse or repetition in a sentence, but it's a good substitute for some of the even more awkward and convoluted constructions. but used judiciously, it can add variety and a more comfortable flow to our syntax. In short 'one' is ripe for a comeback.