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> statements like this are not useful for building understanding. I don't ask you to "understand," honestly I'm not sure if I even particularly want you to. I

> statements like this are not useful for building understanding. I don't ask you to "understand," honestly I'm not sure if I even particularly want you to. I want you to _respect_ us, and others. And no, understanding is not a precondition to respect. By insisting on using exclusive language, or even by framing otherwise inclusive language as exclusive, you are showing lack of such respect. And true understanding is a huge amount of work. If you need understanding for respect, there ain't going to be many people you'll respect. > Being disconnected from the struggle/lifestyle/issue, I do not know what to take from your statement. > What, in your opinion, are most trans people asking for, and what makes you sure that the majority seek that? We ask you to say "humankind" and "employee-hours." Among other mostly practical, material things: don't exclude us and don't get in our way.

arghzzz 6y ago
I do hope you know that it’s never intentional. I’m definitely not excluding any gender when I think of the concept of “man hours”—it’s just an abbreviation for “human” to me. I try to use gender neutral language where ever I can, whenever I think of it... I end my meetings with “thanks everyone” rather than “thanks guys”, even though “guys” just means people to me. But it can be stressful to always have to worry about the different intentions people can put behind words, even if none are meant. Basically I think trying to use more gender neutral language is a great thing, but we also shouldn’t criticize it every time it’s seen. I think it’s fair to assume we all have good intentions and that we’re not secretly sexist.