Poll of the Day > Do you know how to use gender neutral pronouns?

(+) Yeah! (+)

LittleRoyal posted...

GanglyKhan posted...

Blue_Thunder posted...

LittleRoyal posted...

we get emails telling us what to think about these situations and stuff.

Ah, gotta brainwash 'em while they're still young. :P

Not in context of the topic, but just in general: If a college student can't think for themselves, they failed the most important lesson of high school which is how to think critically.

Uhh. My high school English class wasnt teaching that but teaching trans rights and stuff.
Idk maybe its a state thing

It's not a lesson taught, it's something you have to learn naturally.

Lol @ results.
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I'll try to use a person's chosen pronouns, but if those pronouns are neologisms or seem to contradict the person's gender presentation, I'm probably going to mess up. I've never actually had to deal with this outside of the internet, though.

We English speakers really need to agree on a set of gender-neutral singular pronouns for people, though. I don't find it grating when someone uses "they", etc., as singular; but it can make it unclear what's being referred to. Also, sometimes I want to refer to a particular person but not give away whether that person is a man or a woman, and in that situation I do find "they", etc., grating. For example, "My neighbor needs to get their act together!" sounds weird to me, but (hypothetically) I might not want to give out too much information about who I'm talking about. It would be easier to just say "My neighbor needs to get eir act together!" (or whatever).

Blue_Thunder posted...

SushiSquid posted...

I'll happily use singular they for anyone who wants it. I won't use whatever made up shit some people ask for. English has been using singular they for gender-neutral for at least 600 years. It's working just fine.

This.

Yup.
I like what Chappelle said about it. I respect anyones right to be who they want to be, but to what degree do I have to contribute to their self image.
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OmegaM posted...

"My neighbor needs to get their act together!" sounds weird to me, but (hypothetically) I might not want to give out too much information about who I'm talking about. It would be easier to just say "My neighbor needs to get eir act together!" (or whatever).

Why does "their" sound weird to you?
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LittleRoyal posted...

But we use a lot of Jargon that wasnt used hundreds of years ago and according to this lady in the video itll be totally natural for us in a few years.
So why fight it?

Stop trying to make fetch a thing. It is never going to happen.

SushiSquid posted...

I'll happily use singular they for anyone who wants it. I won't use whatever made up shit some people ask for. English has been using singular they for gender-neutral for at least 600 years. It's working just fine.

I still don't like singular "they." I'll use it as requested, because I'm not a disrespectful douchemonkey, but I don't like it from a purely grammatical perspective. Quantitative ambiguity sucks.
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Im never calling anyone zee or zir

adjl posted...

I still don't like singular "they." I'll use it as requested, because I'm not a disrespectful douchemonkey, but I don't like it from a purely grammatical perspective. Quantitative ambiguity sucks.

Shakespeare used it. Hell, Chaucer used it. It's been a part of the English language for well long enough to be considered grammatical by now. If your argument is that you dislike quantitative ambiguity, then you must also start using thou or you're being hypocritical.

There are two genders and that's all there is to it.
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Metal_Mario99 posted...

There are two genders and that's all there is to it.

Who is the officiating source on that?

GanglyKhan posted...

Metal_Mario99 posted...

There are two genders and that's all there is to it.

Who is the officiating source on that?

Nature, genetics, common sense.
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Runner_style posted...

GanglyKhan posted...

Metal_Mario99 posted...

There are two genders and that's all there is to it.

Who is the officiating source on that?

Nature, genetics, common sense.

Sex isn't gender though. And common sense is a misnomer as the thought of it is derived from one's own world view, therefore, making it incredibly uncommon.

I have no problem if you're delusional enough to think that you're feelings override your anatomy and genetics, but I'm not going to encourage your delusions. Also, I'm not a religious conservative type. I'm a libertarian. By all means, live how you feel. Assign whatever label you want to it. I don't care. But if you try to dictate my behavior or language, that's a violation of the NAP. That makes you the ass, not me
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Even if theres two genders

Agender isnt a gender its no gender

Transgender isnt s gender it means youre sex and gender arent same to you (so a girl whos gender is to be a boy)

Gender fluid isnt a gender its rapidly randomly switching around genders
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LittleRoyal posted...

Stuff

There are other ways to view it. For example: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijra_(South_Asia)

Gender is based on society, which dictates how many and what kinds of genders there are. Certainly, in America, people tend to view it as a hard black or white, one or the other. But as you can see with the example above, those that fall under different circumstances and characteristics are considered a third kind of gender and to them, as a society, the idea of three genders is normal. It's a legally accepted thing in countries like India.

One can view themselves as both and fluid doesn't mean you change from male to female. Gender is a scale, note how we have masculine women (sex) and feminine males (also sex). They aren't a hard male or female (gender this time), so that's where your inter-genders and fluids come from.

I just call everyone the n word
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protip: if a pronoun only applies to one person... it's a regular noun.
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Lokarin posted...

protip: if a pronoun only applies to one person... it's a regular noun.

What sort of grade school did you drop out of?

GanglyKhan posted...

Lokarin posted...

protip: if a pronoun only applies to one person... it's a regular noun.

What sort of grade school did you drop out of?

I am correct, you can ask any English lit prof if you want.
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SushiSquid posted...

adjl posted...

I still don't like singular "they." I'll use it as requested, because I'm not a disrespectful douchemonkey, but I don't like it from a purely grammatical perspective. Quantitative ambiguity sucks.

Shakespeare used it. Hell, Chaucer used it. It's been a part of the English language for well long enough to be considered grammatical by now. If your argument is that you dislike quantitative ambiguity, then you must also start using thou or you're being hypocritical.

I understand phasing out "thou," though, because second-person speech usually has enough context to resolve quantitative ambiguity. In the cases where it doesn't, "you all" very effectively makes it clearly plural, solving the problem. Third-person speech less frequently has such context, making "they" more likely to encounter ambiguity.

I'm well aware that it's firmly established in English grammar, and that ignoring it would be erroneous. I just don't like it. There's plenty not to like in how English is structured.
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kind9 posted...

OmegaM posted...

"My neighbor needs to get their act together!" sounds weird to me, but (hypothetically) I might not want to give out too much information about who I'm talking about. It would be easier to just say "My neighbor needs to get eir act together!" (or whatever).

Why does "their" sound weird to you?

Maybe because there's a definite answer in this case as to whether the person is a man or a woman (I'm assuming the person is cisgendered here). I guess I could get used to using "their" in this situation if everyone agreed it was fine to use.