In the 1960s, feminists began to encourage writers to use nonsexist language. Among other changes, writers were urged to stop using the masculine pronoun he as the generic pronoun when they really meant he or she. Instead, they started consciously using she alternating the masculine and feminine pronouns, or using they instead, because they wanted to signify that the male pronoun was not the best option for designating both men and women. At the time, many people thought that this small shift in language use by a few individuals couldn't possibly change anything; it seemed so trivial.