"They" is OK By Me

November 17th, 2014
gender, ling, they
As part of the process of switching to ungendered pronouns at some point people need to start being ok with using "they" with named referents. I'm really optimistic about how "they" is catching on among genderqueer people, but I'd like to help it along. So: if you want to use singular they to refer to me, feel free! I'm still happy to be refered to with standard male pronouns, but if you'd like to use "they," that's fine too.

Example usage:

  • Jeff lost their hat.
  • When you see Jeff, can you give them this note?
  • Jeff's borrowing a car, so they can drive themself there.

These are currently confusing to most people, so you probably want to think about context and not use them when it's not worth it. Still, the more we hear "they" the better it will sound. For example, two years ago uses of "they" like "whenever I meet a cute boy contra dancing I friend them on facebook" sounded wrong to me, but now those sound fine.

(And if your response is "but 'they' is plural, you can't use it in the singular!" then I would say "using 'you' in the singular was once just as wrong.")

Referenced in: Pushing They

Comment via: google plus, facebook

Recent posts on blogs I like:

Starting With Chords

A lot of people play fiddle. Basically nobody starts by learning chords before learning melodies. But that's actually how I learned. I started with chords. One of the nice things about learning to play violin this way is that you can go busking even…

via Anna Wise's Blog Posts November 15, 2024

Stuffies

I have some stuffies and I just have a bunny. Bunny is a rabbit. Woof is a seal. My favorite stuffie is bun bun. I play with my stuffies. Sometimes I jump up with them and I roll them. I can just throw them in the air when I want to play bthululubp wi…

via Nora Wise's Blog Posts November 15, 2024

You Can Buy A Malaria Net

2024 election takes

via Thing of Things November 6, 2024

more     (via openring)