A bunch of people.

Someone wrote…

The pronoun ”they” makes me feel like I’m a bunch of people. I kind of like it.

What’s your experience?

And what are you thinking about gender right now?


Posted by on May 7th, 2011 at 08:00 am

Category: your voice 15 comments »

15 Responses to “A bunch of people.”

  1. Anonymous

    I’ve always preferred that.

    [Reply]

  2. Courage

    Yesterday, for the first time in 3 years, my English teacher didn’t correct my usage of “they” for a singular noun. I was happy when I read the grade on my paper. Either she’s catching on to what it’s like to be genderqueer, or she’s given up on trying to change me, but it still makes me smile. :)

    [Reply]

  3. Charles

    If this blog had a ‘like’ button, I’d press it now. :-)

    [Reply]

    Auro replied:

    Same.

    [Reply]

    Michael replied:

    I came here just to say that this blog needs a like button for posts like that!

    [Reply]

    Sarah Dopp replied:

    we’ve actually played with like buttons of various sorts, and the community voted it down once they had a chance to play with it. agreed that commenting was much more satisfying. but i hear ya. i like it, too. :)

    [Reply]

  4. Eli

    I think I just became way more OK with this being my preference for pronoun. I do feel awfully plural at times.

    [Reply]

  5. Nicholas

    “They” is my favorite generic pronoun, it’s so open-ended! But really, they’re all nice–the he’s and she’s, sir’s and ma’am’s–it helps you know, subtly, how people see you!

    [Reply]

  6. Anonymous

    I prefer they as a pronoun, but it seems most people can’t get their heads round the usage of it. Everyone got it wrong and defaulted to my assigned at birth pronoun (she). So i had to switch to he, even though it doesn’t really fit. Now people don’t mess up, anyone else have the same problem?

    [Reply]

    Courage replied:

    I had the same problem, except my preferred pronouns are no pronouns. People have such a dastardly time with that, though. It’s not THAT hard, as I usually abide by those rules for every human I encounter. Second to no pronouns, I prefer they, and after they, I prefer either masculine or feminine, as long as it’s both.

    I just gave up with that, though, and did what you did. I am more not a girl than I am more not a boy, so “he” is not as unnerving as “she”. “she” is pretty low on the totem pole, but that’s even better than it…

    [Reply]

    Adair replied:

    I said the “no pronouns” thing at a gender conference once. Got me some awkward looks. Went with “ze/zir” (which really is what I use for myself occasionally) in the next session.

    [Reply]

  7. Adair

    Interesting. My problem with “they” is that in its singular form it usually refers to an unspecified person. “Someone came by, they left you this,” rather than simply a gender neutral pronoun. I might even say, “A woman came by, they left you this,” to emphasize that I didn’t know who she was, or if I don’t want to specify someone’s identity, “I have a friend with that issue. They don’t want…”

    Of course I would respect that as someone’s pronoun preference, but it’s stopped me from using it on myself (most of the time). Do other people have the same issue, or am I making these linguistic connotations up?

    “They” as a plural marker would really reflect my gendered experience. I’m not quite gender fluid in that I can be multiple distinct genders concurrently, not just serially, and we get into some pretty heated arguments about what exactly I am.

    [Reply]

  8. Pun

    I like “they” because it is probbably the most socially-accepted gender-neutral pronoun. It is one of the few things I can say in place of “he” or “she” that won’t be conversationally awkward. Not that I have a problem with standing out because of my deliberate choice of words, but I am just happy that society has at least created a way that I can choose not to specify a gender in normal conversation and not have to sound like I am making a point.

    [Reply]

  9. Iz

    I love this :)

    [Reply]

  10. Slink

    This made me smile :)

    [Reply]


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