>Q2) Is it true that in an attempt to enforce "equality" the words him and her have been combined into a new word "hem" ?


Years ago I proposed (in casual amongst family, friends, anyone who would listen whenever the issue came up) that the word "heir" be extended to have that meaning (to be used in a case meaning his / her / their). It already has that type of connotation, meaning an heir can be a him, a her (or even a them). :-)

I often see things like this in documentation:
When the user clicks the login button, s/he will find the main screen appears.