7 ms·

Got me wondering: What's the non "harmful/hurtful" pronoun to use for someone who is asexual (probably not the right word)?

mathieuh 13y ago
If you don't know what pronoun they want to have used, just use the third person plural (they). This is true of all instances where gender identity is sensitive. What do you mean by asexual? Do you mean transsexual? If so, the correct word is trans-male or trans-female (reflecting which gender they identify as).
- davidw 13y ago
  "They" is supposedly not grammatically correct (IIRC), but to me it sounds a lot better than the alternatives, and... grammar can change to fit society better.
  - mathieuh 13y ago
    It's not prescriptively grammatically correct, but it's the same thing as split infinitives or prepositions at the end of sentences. Native English speakers use the third person plural all the time anyway, and when the reason for your language's antiquated grammatical rules is wanting to be more like Latin, I think it's time for the pedants to catch up with reality.
  - ben0x539 13y ago
    As far as I'm aware, the use of 'they' for third-person singular of unspecified gender goes back centuries already. I don't see what the problem is.
    - davidw 13y ago
      To bring things back full circle to wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they I agree that 'they' works well in English and I continue to use it.
- sugerman 13y ago
  Someone who identifies as neither gender. I realize gender != sex in this context but I couldn't think of a better alternative.
  - BlackAura 13y ago
    The word you're after is "agender". So, pretty close. The answer is - whatever they tell you to. Some would prefer "they". Others wouldn't care if you use "him" or "her". Yet others prefer some invented pronoun (there's a long list). The only one that's likely to be inappropriate is "it". Don't use that.
    - sugerman 13y ago
      I reserve "it" for unborn babies whose parents don't know the gender.
- ben0x539 13y ago
  The correct word is male or female, for binarily-identifying people at least, trans or not. :/
akie 13y ago
You can use 'hir' - http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hir http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hir

mathieuh 13y ago

If you don't know what pronoun they want to have used, just use the third person plural (they). This is true of all instances where gender identity is sensitive. What do you mean by asexual? Do you mean transsexual? If so, the correct word is trans-male or trans-female (reflecting which gender they identify as).

davidw 13y ago
"They" is supposedly not grammatically correct (IIRC), but to me it sounds a lot better than the alternatives, and... grammar can change to fit society better.
- mathieuh 13y ago
  It's not prescriptively grammatically correct, but it's the same thing as split infinitives or prepositions at the end of sentences. Native English speakers use the third person plural all the time anyway, and when the reason for your language's antiquated grammatical rules is wanting to be more like Latin, I think it's time for the pedants to catch up with reality.
- ben0x539 13y ago
  As far as I'm aware, the use of 'they' for third-person singular of unspecified gender goes back centuries already. I don't see what the problem is.
  - davidw 13y ago
    To bring things back full circle to wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they I agree that 'they' works well in English and I continue to use it.
sugerman 13y ago
Someone who identifies as neither gender. I realize gender != sex in this context but I couldn't think of a better alternative.
- BlackAura 13y ago
  The word you're after is "agender". So, pretty close. The answer is - whatever they tell you to. Some would prefer "they". Others wouldn't care if you use "him" or "her". Yet others prefer some invented pronoun (there's a long list). The only one that's likely to be inappropriate is "it". Don't use that.
  - sugerman 13y ago
    I reserve "it" for unborn babies whose parents don't know the gender.
ben0x539 13y ago
The correct word is male or female, for binarily-identifying people at least, trans or not. :/

akie 13y ago

You can use 'hir' - http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hir http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hir