>As far as I am aware 'he' has two meanings in common parlance, one gender neutral and one specifically referring to males.
That works, if you were educated before 1960: "The use of he to refer to a person of unknown gender was prescribed by manuals of style and school textbooks from the early 18th century until around the 1960s" [1]
The thing is, you have read, most of your life, seeing male pronouns. I was a young teenage girl when I realised this and it made me feel left out, like I'd never be relevant. Acknowledging half the population is a good start - I like those programming books for example where Alice and Bob are equally represented.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-specific_and_gender-neut...
"Common sense is the most widely shared commodity in the world, for every man is convinced that he is well supplied with it." -- Rene Decartes