Columns Jun 9, 2005 at 4:00 am

Feet First

Comments

1
The thing is, as a genderqueer person, I'm not that much of a fan of the new pronouns either. But then what am I supposed to do? I can't bring myself to go by he or she because that's just not who I am, and hearing those pronouns referring to me make the issues of depression and being suicidal that I'm struggling with worse. What I'm doing right now is having people use the nickname Ri instead of a pronoun, because it sounds like a pronoun and isn't too repetitive.
3
@Riam, I don't know if you'll ever see this, but I do have some advice. Rather than insisting on creating new terms, use the gender neutral singular pronoun that already exists: "they/them/their".

But, you say, that's a plural pronoun. True, but we've been using it as a singular pronoun, too, since at least the 1600s, as it's used that way in the King James Version of the Bible.

Sure, it's a little awkward at first, as people tend to only use it when they do not know someone's gender preference. They expect that, if they know you, they'll find out whether you are a he or she. But it's less awkward than trying to add new words like that. Especially since pronouns are so firmly embedded in our minds.

Also, don't freak out if someone uses a different pronoun. Again, it's just extremely hard to break the habit.

Please wait...

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