"We use 'he' because it's closer to being 'it'"

When it comes to teachers, I usually use the anonymous "she" even though the profession is now more or less equally divided. I grew up assuming teachers were female because most of them were, until I reached high school age. The same with nurses. The grammar books of the era insisted that "if there is a single member of that group that is male, you use 'he'." What a crock. Everyone said "she" for teachers and nurses and usually for secretaries as well.

And yes, we refer to unknown animals as "he". But when it comes to insects, I use "she" most of the time, especially with social insects and spiders. I don't know whether I should be saying "she" with anything else, but to say "he" in reference to a bee or wasp is just wrong. For all intents and purposes, every bee or wasp or ant you will ever see is a female. The nests have no more than a few males and those never come out to be seen unless the queen is swarming.

As for spiders, I use "she" because many spider females kill and eat their mates, so I assume there may be a preponderance of females in the population, though I don't know this as an entomological fact, I just get tired of saying "he" so often.