"An interesting handle chosen by Spleen Cringe for herself or himself."

In fact it's just an anagram of my name. I suppose the point I was trying to make above was that language is not and never has been preserved in aspic. Trying to argue that a living, changing thing should remain a certain way is a pointless attempt to acheive the impossible. And I have no idea why anyone thinks language that isn't gender specific reinforces sexism. Are the users of such language 'asking for it' or something?

To respond to the original question in the thread, why not change the words in whatever way you see fit and for whatever reason you want if so moved? These songs are not carved in stone and unless historical re-enactment is your bag there's no reason not to. Same with the tunes.