Pushing They

November 18th, 2014
degendering, gender, ling, they
In the comments on yesterdays post a few people brought up ideas like, paraphrasing:
When a cisgender person says they don't care what pronouns people use for them they trivialize the experiences of people living with the dysphoria that comes from constant misgendering. To a cis person this isn't real, it isn't raw, it doesn't matter. For a cis person to express a pronoun "preference" ignores that for lots of people it's not a preference, it's a core part of their identity.
This is a major reason why we should get gender out of language. Right now, every time you use a pronoun there's the potential to hurt someone; we're hanging core parts of people's identities out for constant affirmation or disaffirmation. As long as pronouns have gender implications this is going to be a problem. We should push English toward having a single pronoun for everyone: no one will feel dysphoric when hearing it used for them because it will have no gender implications a all.

Some ways cis people can use their privilege to help get gender out of language:

And as long as pronouns do still indicate gender, respect people's pronouns and really work at using the correct ones.

Referenced in:

Comment via: google plus, facebook, substack

Recent posts on blogs I like:

Food Fridays: The Joy of Vegan Baking

My secret to delicious vegan baking is the book The Joy of Vegan Baking.

via Thing of Things December 26, 2025

Opinionated takes on parenting

This post is a collection of parenting takes that sometimes go through my head, based on my experience raising our two boys (5 and 2 years old). All of this is based on my experience and might not apply to others (see the law of equal and opposite advice)…

via Victoria Krakovna December 16, 2025

How to Make a Christmas Wreath

Yesterday, I made a Christmas wreath. Here's how to make one. First, find an evergreen tree near your house. Clip off a few branches from the tree. Try to have as many leaves or needles on the branches as possible. Next, bring them home. What I usu…

via Anna Wise's Blog Posts December 6, 2025

more     (via openring)