Profile: Jamie
You can call me… Jamie
I identify as… a Polish FTM transman
…a go-go.
As far as third-person pronouns go, … I prefer male pronouns–I still get warm and fuzzy inside every time I’m addressed as “sir.” So as far as I’m concerned, gender on, folks.
Co-opted third person plurals like “they” and “them” seem like a means without an end… Subverting gender markers, yes, but within the same linguistic structure? Doesn’t seem to call enough attention as politics.
Gender-neutrals would be great — even I’d hop on board — if only everyone was familiar… and remembered… and pronounced them correctly.
I miss optimism.
I’m attracted to… my fiancé.
When people talk about me, I want them to… give me credit when it’s due, despite the myriad of reasons one can find to deny it.
I want people to understand… that trans/gender/queer theories have still a long way to go in terms of acknowledging the breadth of subjectivities under their purview. Let’s all take a step back…
About Jamie
Consciously burying myself in the feminist-queer-gender-trans academies. With any luck in a few years I’ll have all my degrees and enough money to make ends meet… and maybe I’ll have enacted change on the way.
» Define yourself. «
Category: profiles One comment »
May 27th, 2010 at 10:00 pm |
I like They because people know how to pronounce it already! And there’s historical use of it as a singular gender-neutral pronoun! And, though it could be a bit confusing, using it in the middle a conversation with someone who doesn’t get it is much less likely then ze/zir to require a long pause to explain everything!
The end for me is that I think we’re more likely to treat people of different genders equally if we’re not constantly reminding ourselves that they’re different, and that people who don’t fit the binary are going to be a lot more comfortable and safe if we’re not constantly alienating them entirely. I’m placing my bets with They because it seems to me that if anything is going to have a big change in how we use pronouns, it’s going to be something that has a bit historical use and sounding natural to the ear (in that at least people know it’s a word) going for it.
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