3 ms·
Thought I just had: using just "he" is obviously exclusionary because it makes males the default. Likewise, people don't just use "she" either. But given that t
by ummonk 8y ago
Thought I just had: using just "he" is obviously exclusionary because it makes males the default. Likewise, people don't just use "she" either. But given that there are people whose preferred pronouns are "they/them", wouldn't that make "they" equally exclusionary?
- scott_s 8y agoNo, because "they/them" is valid for everyone.
- mindondrugs 8y agoThe they/them pronouns are used in place of he/him/she/her because they are ungendered. I fail to see how the use of ungendered pronouns are exclusionary.
- ummonk 8y ago"They/them" are also preferred pronouns for some non-binary people, in which case they are being used as gendered pronouns.
- testplzignore 8y agoIt certainly seems biased towards conjoined twins.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- jerf 8y agoEnglish needs a construction for referring to an individual that you don't know. They/them is fine. Someone somewhere is going to decide to get up in arms about that, and there's just nothing to be done about it since it will be a demand to know them before you know them (logically impossible), so don't worry about it.
- munificent 8y agoNo, because singular they is a well-established idiom that conveys "unknown gender", it subsumes people who actually prefer "they" as well as people who prefer "he" and "she".
- ummonk 8y ago"He" used to serve that purpose and subsumed people with all pronoun preferences.