Jayhawker Soule (he/him)

[Jayhawker Soule]

I have been to more that a few gatherings where name tags were strongly encouraged, and, not infrequently, "he/him," or "she/her" was appended.

That makes perfect sense to me, but I honestly struggle with "they/them." Thoughts?

 

[SalixIncendium]

I have been to more that a few gatherings where name tags were strongly encouraged, and, not infrequently, "he/him," or "she/her" was appended.

That makes perfect sense to me, but I honestly struggle with "they/them." Thoughts?

They/them is generally used by those that identify as nonbinary.

 

[Eddi]

I honestly struggle with "they/them." Thoughts?

I once met a person who wanted to be "it/its"

It was hard calling it that as "it" is normally applied to inanimate objects, it was a bit of a struggle to be honest

It would have been easier for me it it had gone with "them"

And I've always thought that "them" sounds like more than one people

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I have been to more that a few gatherings where name tags were strongly encouraged, and, not infrequently, "he/him," or "she/her" was appended.

That makes perfect sense to me, but I honestly struggle with "they/them." Thoughts?

 

[Brickjectivity]

That makes perfect sense to me, but I honestly struggle with "they/them." Thoughts?

I tend to agree with Brad Polumbo who claims his position is "Center/Right." His opinion is that its polite to use the pronouns but that its abnormal to insist that people use pronouns which don't fit the usual way. To me that makes sense. It does feel weird to stop using the pronouns built into the language, and I don't think we are ostracizing people by using them. I think its extra nice to use someone's requested pronouns.

Where I think the Right needs to compromise is on being more generous about using she/her and he/him when requested; but I don't think its appropriate to make it a legal matter. It crosses the free speech line when it amounts to telling people how to think rather than merely how to behave. What we say with our mouths represents our thinking, and government doesn't belong there in our mouths compelling speech.

Government does belong however handling documents. If somebody wants they/them on a document that could be a different matter. Its not as if its compelling someone to think or say anything. The question is whether government is compelling speech by demanding a pronoun, and so I like the way it is now where you don't have to put in a prefix on documents. You don't have to state Jr/Mr/Mz/Mrs.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

They/them is generally used by those that identify as nonbinary.

I understand.

 

[Watchmen]

I was at a university event recently. The speaker identified as she/they. Threw me off.

 

[Revoltingest]

I'm OK with they & them.
It's really old school to use those for the singular case.

A brief history of singular ‘they’

www.oed.com

 

[Revoltingest]

Caution, folks....this is a duplicate thread.

Not everyone knows how to cope with
RF's latest glitch. See....

New RF Double Posting Problem

Get this message? "Oops! We ran into some problems." "A server error occurred. Please try again later." You try again later, & eventually discover that every time you try, your post is posted. Don't retry. Click on to close that message. Hit to post.

www.religiousforums.com

 

[Shadow Wolf]

That makes perfect sense to me, but I honestly struggle with "they/them." Thoughts?

It still feels wierd to me, but as far as I can tell that's just on me.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I once met a person who wanted to be "it/its"

It was hard calling it that as "it" is normally applied to inanimate objects, it was a bit of a struggle to be honest

It is also hard for me. I was raised it's very rude and demeaning to call someone it, that it's such a terrible thing to call someone because it strips them of their personhood and humanity and reduces them to an object. It makes me feel like I'm calling someone something like *****.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

It still feels wierd to me, but as far as I can tell that's just on me.

If I felt/perceived myself to be female, I can see wanting that to be acknowledged and respected. But this seems different than wanting myself to be acknowledged as plural.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

If I felt/perceived myself to be female, I can see wanting that to be acknowledged and respected. But this seems different than wanting myself to be acknowledged as plural.

I think they're going back to an antiquated and obscure usage that did have a singular they.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I think they're going back to an antiquated and obscure usage that did have a singular they.

I'm unfamiliar with it.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Often, the staff has to refer to members in the third person, as many members don't identify their gender. We often use they/them for those whose gender isn't known for certain so as not to misgender the member.

 

[JustGeorge]

It still feels wierd to me, but as far as I can tell that's just on me.

Feels weird to me, too.

I use it when requested, but it feels weird. To me. I understand others feel different, and I respect that.

It is also hard for me. I was raised it's very rude and demeaning to call someone it, that it's such a terrible thing to call someone because it strips them of their personhood and humanity and reduces them to an object. It makes me feel like I'm calling someone something like *****.

I don't think I could do 'it', for the same reason. I would use 'it' for the duration of the conversation to be polite, but then I would probably try to avoid more conversation with 'it'. It would find it a little stressing.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I once met a person who wanted to be "it/its"

It was hard calling it that as "it" is normally applied to inanimate objects, it was a bit of a struggle to be honest

It would have been easier for me it it had gone with "them"

And I've always thought that "them" sounds like more than one people

I still say be honest. Call people for who and what they are.

 

[McBell]

I still say be honest. Call people for who and what they are.

Who gets to determine what thy are?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Often, the staff has to refer to members in the third person, as many members don't identify their gender. We often use they/them for those whose gender isn't known for certain so as not to misgender the member.

 

[libre]

I once met a person who wanted to be "it/its"

It was hard calling it that as "it" is normally applied to inanimate objects, it was a bit of a struggle to be honest

It would have been easier for me it it had gone with "them"

And I've always thought that "them" sounds like more than one people

It is also hard for me. I was raised it's very rude and demeaning to call someone it, that it's such a terrible thing to call someone because it strips them of their personhood and humanity and reduces them to an object. It makes me feel like I'm calling someone something like *****.

I recall learning that the literal translation of it/its in Anishinaabemowin was used pre-colonization, but dropped due to the English connotation of dehumanization, but some native speakers use it.

I wonder if it would've stayed in use if not how the English here dehumanized and systematically subjugated native nations.