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Frankly, I’ve never really understood the point of identifying as non-binary, except maybe if you were born intersex. Refusing to accept society’s rigid gender roles makes perfect sense, but to me, rejecting gender entirely just feels like throwing the baby out with the bath water. Then again, what I am well aware of is that I’m not the one who has to deal with these desires and they that do probably know something I don’t. I know some shit that’s important to me is just baffling to others, and I’ve grown to recognize that it’s the same with other people.
That said, in my writers group, I can remember one NB decided to include preferred pronouns in our usual introductions, and I decided to have a little fun with it. When my turn came, I decided my preferred pronoun was “motherfucker.” Said NB laughed.
On the subject of the singular “they,” this has quite a bit of precedent. I’ve heard it was even used in Shakespeare (although the example I’ve seen is a bit ambiguous), but it turns out it’s even older than that. It’s pre-Bard, it’s pre-Chaucer, hell, it’s from the days when we still had a dedicated letter for TH sounds. It’s just a bit younger than the plural they. Frankly, AWTY, just be thankful that your niece’s half-sister has at least latched onto a pronoun that’s at least intuitive in pronunciation. That’s more than I’ve seen online.
On the OP, I just have to say, if Sarah Paulson doesn’t feel like giving her pronouns on her Twitter, that’s her choice. Maybe she’s just comfortable with the usual “she/her” pronouns and just doesn’t see the point in specifying that she prefers the pronouns that have been the default for her for her entire life and that almost everyone will use for her anyway.
And Charlie from the hidden part of the article has a damn good point:
Charlie Wrote:trans people do not care that sarah paulson doesn’t have pronouns in her bio, we care about the fact that we don’t have equal access to healthcare, that in the uk we don’t have equal marriage rights, that trans women of colour are at high risk of murder, the list goes on
To make it more confusing, at least to me, said niece's half sister is married to a transitioning male to female and they refer to that person as their wife. I sort of feel like I need some sort of chart or diagram so I can say the preferred words (almost said keep it straight). To be safe I will stick with first names and skip the pronouns and/or labels.
I am so used to saying sir and ma'am regardless of age that now I worry about that being wrong.
There are so many ways to unintentionally offend people these days. Even the polite things I was taught and that I taught my kids can be seen as offensive. I think I'll just stay home even if this pandemic ever ends.
