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  • Countering the backlash against nonbinary pronouns

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mannr@sympatico.ca Oct 21, 2018 8:52 pm

I suggest that any discussion of word acceptability needs first to include the issue of communication, to wit, the notion that the very basis of the language we use -- the form and intent of the wording and syntax -- depends on whether the reader or listener understands what the writer or speaker means by the words used.

Reply to mannr@sympatico.ca at 8:52 pm
Scstine1672@gmail.com mannr@sympatico.caOct 21, 2018 11:34 pm

I suggest that any discussion of word acceptability needs first to include the issue of communication, to wit, the notion that the very basis of the language we use -- the form and intent of the wording and syntax -- depends on whether the reader or listener understands what the writer or speaker means by the words used.

Are you saying that non-binary pronouns make writing or speech harder or easier to understand?

Reply to Scstine1672@gmail.com at 11:34 pm
nunn.winship@gmail.com Oct 23, 2018 12:20 pm

My not using nonbinary pronouns makes me a hater? (The free-speech argument is more direct: I can say whatever I want; you can’t make me say what I don’t want to say. Behind that libertarian veneer lurks hate.) On the contrary, if I do not know the particular orientation (sexual or otherwise) of another person, it would be insulting to that person for me to mistakenly assume he/she/it is a heem, a sis-gender, a heer, or whatever else someone can come up with. I am old, and prefer to keep things simple. He/him, she/her and it have worked for centuries, and still work very well in my community. That does not make me a hater, simply traditional. If people are sensitive to their labels, they should wear a badge alerting others to what they want to be called so that they won't be unintentionally insulted. Personally, she and her fit me very well, and I wouldn't know how to respond to any other label.

Reply to nunn.winship@gmail.com at 12:20 pm