3 ms·

Because we already arbitrarily assign different pronouns to different people, usually based solely on their appearance, and there is no harm in letting people p

by _cenw 4y ago

Because we already arbitrarily assign different pronouns to different people, usually based solely on their appearance, and there is no harm in letting people pick which type of gendered (or less gendered, in the binary sense) association they'd rather have.

yencabulator 4y ago
There's an easier fix for that, instead of having to memorize everyone's "unique" preference (xy/xor/xeps), change the language to avoid the issue. "They" for everyone is the only logical evolution. My native language doesn't have a he/she differentiation..
- mrguyorama 4y ago
  You don't have to memorize shit. When you refer to someone and they tell you "I prefer pronoun X" just use that pronoun for the rest of the interaction. If you interact with them regularly or they are important to you somehow, you will remember, the same as you remember a pet name or nickname or screenname. If you forget and interact with them again they will remind you. They will likely not be angry if you forget occasionally, and using their chosen pronouns will please them and endear them to you. They only get hurt if you obviously do it on purpose. It's literally identical to the concept of learning someone's name, yet humans largely don't have a problem with that.
  - yencabulator 4y ago
    I don't know about you but I mostly refer to people with they/him/her/his/hers when they are not present.
  - kazinator 4y ago
    What? When you're interacting with a person, you don't need to know their pronouns. They are the first person in front of you, so the pronouns are "you" and "yours". The third person pronouns kick in when talking about them, to someone else, almost certainly in their absence. That may happen in writing.
kazinator 4y ago
We also hurl prepositions at people based on their appearance. "He doesn't look with it": preposition and pronoun. Oh, and don't get me started on adjectives. If a 5-foot-tall Douglas wants to be called Giant Doug, just oblige.

by _cenw 4y ago

yencabulator 4y ago

There's an easier fix for that, instead of having to memorize everyone's "unique" preference (xy/xor/xeps), change the language to avoid the issue. "They" for everyone is the only logical evolution. My native language doesn't have a he/she differentiation..

mrguyorama 4y ago
You don't have to memorize shit. When you refer to someone and they tell you "I prefer pronoun X" just use that pronoun for the rest of the interaction. If you interact with them regularly or they are important to you somehow, you will remember, the same as you remember a pet name or nickname or screenname. If you forget and interact with them again they will remind you. They will likely not be angry if you forget occasionally, and using their chosen pronouns will please them and endear them to you. They only get hurt if you obviously do it on purpose. It's literally identical to the concept of learning someone's name, yet humans largely don't have a problem with that.
- yencabulator 4y ago
  I don't know about you but I mostly refer to people with they/him/her/his/hers when they are not present.
- kazinator 4y ago
  What? When you're interacting with a person, you don't need to know their pronouns. They are the first person in front of you, so the pronouns are "you" and "yours". The third person pronouns kick in when talking about them, to someone else, almost certainly in their absence. That may happen in writing.

kazinator 4y ago

We also hurl prepositions at people based on their appearance. "He doesn't look with it": preposition and pronoun. Oh, and don't get me started on adjectives. If a 5-foot-tall Douglas wants to be called Giant Doug, just oblige.