Two of my roommates are non-gendered (they don't identify as either gender), and use the pronouns they/them instead of she/he or his/hers. At first it was reall

Two of my roommates are non-gendered (they don't identify as either gender), and use the pronouns they/them instead of she/he or his/hers. At first it was really difficult to not misgender them and I would often use the pronouns that describe their sex designation. However, now that I have gotten used to it, it has opened up a whole new way of interacting with and categorizing people. Some interesting instances are when I try to make a joke about some attribute that is usually attributed to a certain sex (e.g. males are more into video games), I have to break down the link that I have made between a trait and a gender identity, and actually figure out what the actual connection is too. Turns out it's usually independent of gender expression and actually some more specific trait. Of course, this is just one specific category that we have to taught to recognize. I think it is incredibly valuable when dealing with humans to be able to unlearn the generalizations that we have been brought up to understand intuitively, and learn to treat people independently of the characterizations that society has incedentally bestowed on them. There are other instances where language affects how people spend money[1], or how characterizing argument with war metaphors causes it to be more combative [citation lost to memory]. My partner is a linguist and is always talking to me about how much the language we use affects the way we think about things. It's fascinating, and its power is something we all should be made aware of. [1] http://www.ted.com/talks/keith_chen_could_your_language_affect_your_ability_to_save_money http://www.ted.com/talks/keith_chen_could_your_language_affe...