On Preferred Pronouns

 

I believe that preferred gender pronouns are bosh. Rubbish. Absolute tripe. And I don’t suspect that this opinion places me in a minority at Ricochet.

But, for all the controversy and argument these parts of speech generate, I’ve heard relatively little discussion of what I think is the most glaring reason why the push for PGPs amounts to mere madness — the simple fact that, in English, the pronouns “he” and “she” identify not gender (whatever that means*), but sex.**

Why do I say this? Because the sociological use of “gender” became widespread only in recent decades, and because gender theory is a post-World War II development (if I dare call it that). By contrast, English, with its three third-person pronouns (“it,” “she,” and “he”), began diverging from other West Germanic dialects around the 500s AD. How could a 1,500-year-old system of binary classification possibly assume the existence of something that wasn’t invented until millennia later?

In spite of this, proponents of PGPs continue to insist that pronouns are “gendered.” Nay, I say! They’re sexed, and there’s the rub.

* For what it’s worth, I’m perfectly willing to concede that gender doesn’t, in fact, exist. Outside the sphere of grammar, the word “gender,” as far as I can tell, describes nothing more than an amorphous grouping of personal tics, lifestyle choices, and sexual preferences. Even Wikipedia has trouble defining the term.

** Yes, yes. Older Anglophones have a habit of addressing ships as they might greet their wives. But, odd as this may seem, it’s perfectly reasonable — if a speaker wants to personify something inanimate, he (or she) has only two choices of pronoun, and both of them happen to reference sex.

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  1. Gary McVey Contributor
    Gary McVey
    @GaryMcVey

    The term “gender” didn’t start with the Left. It started because people were adverse to using the word “sex”, and few of those people were on the left. Think of the kind of 1910-era folk who used to refer to a piano’s “limbs” because they didn’t want to say (gasp!) legs. 

     

    • #1
  2. Kephalithos Member
    Kephalithos
    @Kephalithos

    Gary McVey (View Comment): The term “gender” didn’t start with the Left. It started because people were adverse to using the word “sex”, and few of those people were on the left. Think of the kind of 1910-era folk who used to refer to a piano’s “limbs” because they didn’t want to say (gasp!) legs.

    Point taken.

    Whatever its origin, though, the term does little to clarify our thinking.

    • #2
  3. I Shot The Serif Member
    I Shot The Serif
    @IShotTheSerif

    Gary McVey (View Comment):

    The term “gender” didn’t start with the Left. It started because people were adverse to using the word “sex”, and few of those people were on the left. Think of the kind of 1910-era folk who used to refer to a piano’s “limbs” because they didn’t want to say (gasp!) legs.

     

    True. In grade school and high school I observed classmates using ‘gender’ because they were uncomfortable saying ‘sex,’ at least in an academic setting. I thought it was silly.

    • #3
  4. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    I Shot The Serif (View Comment):
    I thought it was silly.

    Only because it was.

    • #4
  5. Bishop Wash Member
    Bishop Wash
    @BishopWash

    I Shot The Serif (View Comment):

    Gary McVey (View Comment):

    The term “gender” didn’t start with the Left. It started because people were adverse to using the word “sex”, and few of those people were on the left. Think of the kind of 1910-era folk who used to refer to a piano’s “limbs” because they didn’t want to say (gasp!) legs.

    True. In grade school and high school I observed classmates using ‘gender’ because they were uncomfortable saying ‘sex,’ at least in an academic setting. I thought it was silly.

    I was such a naive nerd at times. In junior high our basketball team played a girl’s team; our school had an abundance of boys and they girls. Before the varsity teams played, our game occurred to give us some court time. I referred to the game as a bisexual game because both sexes were involved. The coach quickly informed me that it was a coed game. It was a year or two before I learned why the coach was embarrassed.

    • #5
  6. Kate Braestrup Member
    Kate Braestrup
    @GrannyDude

    I was a visitor in a college classroom recently, and when called upon to introduce themselves, the kids solemnly informed me of their preferred pronoun. Since we were all in the same room, I was unlikely to refer to them in the third person, and how would they know (and why would they care?) what pronoun I used when describing them elsewhere? Assuming I needed to discuss them as individuals, which seems unlikely doesn’t it?

    Tomorrow, I’m getting some sort of award from a Women’s Studies department; the dean arranging my meal and whatnot has an e-mail signature that includes her preferred pronouns. Brace yourselves: they are “she and her.” 

    Within a few short months, God willin’, an ultrasound will reveal my grandchild’s sex. “It’s a girl!” we will say, or the opposite, and henceforth use one of two sets of pronouns when joyfully referring to that particular baby.

    Which isn’t to say that I wouldn’t put a pink shirt on a boy baby (I would and I have), or rush out and buy one of those weird little headbands for a (bald) girl: I wasn’t a particularly feminine kid myself after all. I’m already knitting him/her a red sweater. But the kid will, nonetheless, be a boy or a girl. That’s how the world works. 

    • #6
  7. Judithann Campbell Member
    Judithann Campbell
    @

    Bishop Wash (View Comment):

    I Shot The Serif (View Comment):

    Gary McVey (View Comment):

    The term “gender” didn’t start with the Left. It started because people were adverse to using the word “sex”, and few of those people were on the left. Think of the kind of 1910-era folk who used to refer to a piano’s “limbs” because they didn’t want to say (gasp!) legs.

    True. In grade school and high school I observed classmates using ‘gender’ because they were uncomfortable saying ‘sex,’ at least in an academic setting. I thought it was silly.

    I was such a naive nerd at times. In junior high our basketball team played a girl’s team; our school had an abundance of boys and they girls. Before the varsity teams played, our game occurred to give us some court time. I referred to the game as a bisexual game because both sexes were involved. The coach quickly informed me that it was a coed game. It was a year or two before I learned why the coach was embarrassed.

    lol, that is so cute :)

    • #7
  8. Midget Faded Rattlesnake Member
    Midget Faded Rattlesnake
    @Midge

    I Shot The Serif (View Comment):

    Gary McVey (View Comment):

    The term “gender” didn’t start with the Left. It started because people were adverse to using the word “sex”, and few of those people were on the left. Think of the kind of 1910-era folk who used to refer to a piano’s “limbs” because they didn’t want to say (gasp!) legs.

    True. In grade school and high school I observed classmates using ‘gender’ because they were uncomfortable saying ‘sex,’ at least in an academic setting. I thought it was silly.

    Silly, maybe, but I had to squirt a full-term human out my vagina before I really began becoming comfortable with explicit language.

    I am fine with the young and innocent being bashful enough to shy away from saying “sex”.

    • #8
  9. Mitchell Messom Inactive
    Mitchell Messom
    @MitchellMessom

    I just like how “they” is becoming acceptable along side “she” and “he”. Makes life’s easier for everyone.

    • #9
  10. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    Midget: ewwww

    • #10
  11. Midget Faded Rattlesnake Member
    Midget Faded Rattlesnake
    @Midge

    Mitchell Messom (View Comment):

    I just like how “they” is becoming acceptable along side “she” and “he”. Makes life easier for everyone.

    Singular “they” dates back to Austen’s time, at least.

    • #11
  12. Matty Van Inactive
    Matty Van
    @MattyVan

    Midget Faded Rattlesnake (View Comment):

    Mitchell Messom (View Comment):

    I just like how “they” is becoming acceptable along side “she” and “he”. Makes life easier for everyone.

    Singular “they” dates back to Austen’s time, at least.

    Actually, the fourteenth century. Chances are, this was a spontaneous development in reaction to the gender-less “hit,” which, a thousand years ago, could be used as a sexless pronoun for people. Once the great masssacre of “h” began wiping out the h’s on some of our pronouns, though, “hit” became “it” and usage with people diminished to babies and animals.

    Speaking of said massacre, our “wh” words used to be “hw,” with the h pronounced: hwale (swims the seas), hwit (the color), hweel (goes round and round), hweat (for bread), hwich, hwy, and hwat for questions. With the h’s disappearing just about the time spelling was becoming settled, confused writers inverted the h and w.

    The massacre of h, of course, has reached its ultimate conclusion in much of England.

    Gender, once upon a time, meant “type,” derived from the same source as “genre.” With nouns in most European languages having only two or three “types” or “genders,” and one of the genders usually corresponding to one of the sexes, gender naturally expanded its range of meaning to include sex. Works in Europe.

    However, Niger languages, like Swahili, usually have around fifteen genders. How modern is that!

    • #12
  13. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    Kate Braestrup (View Comment):

    I was a visitor in a college classroom recently, and when called upon to introduce themselves, the kids solemnly informed me of their preferred pronoun. Since we were all in the same room, I was unlikely to refer to them in the third person, and how would they know (and why would they care?) what pronoun I used when describing them elsewhere? Assuming I needed to discuss them as individuals, which seems unlikely doesn’t it?

    Tomorrow, I’m getting some sort of award from a Women’s Studies department; the dean arranging my meal and whatnot has an e-mail signature that includes her preferred pronouns. Brace yourselves: they are “she and her.”

    Within a few short months, God willin’, an ultrasound will reveal my grandchild’s sex. “It’s a girl!” we will say, or the opposite, and henceforth use one of two sets of pronouns when joyfully referring to that particular baby.

    Which isn’t to say that I wouldn’t put a pink shirt on a boy baby (I would and I have), or rush out and buy one of those weird little headbands for a (bald) girl: I wasn’t a particularly feminine kid myself after all. I’m already knitting him/her a red sweater. But the kid will, nonetheless, be a boy or a girl. That’s how the world works.

    Kate – congratulations on your upcoming award! From a Women’s Studies group? That is great!  PS – also congrats on your upcoming new little grandchild — just don’t knit any pink hats with points on them…

    • #13
  14. AltarGirl Inactive
    AltarGirl
    @CM

    iWe (View Comment):

    Midget: ewwww

    Don’t you have 6 kids?

    • #14
  15. AltarGirl Inactive
    AltarGirl
    @CM

    Boy or Girl, it really is all about sex.

    What fits where? Does it reproduce?

    The gender-field clusterf*** we have now serves to confuse the most basic mammalian instinct – to perpetuate the species through sex.

    What sex are you? Male? Then your sex and my sex can create another like us.

    But it’s rude to ask what’s in the pants. How you dress, cut your hair, or mannerisms denote and promote your sex, like a peacock waving his fancy tail – “Look at me! I’m a male!”

    Thanks to transgenderism, future reproductive efforts will include the ice-breaker: “What’s your chromosome?” Because presentation and dick/no dick is no longer effective at determining “Does it reproduce?”

    • #15
  16. OkieSailor Member
    OkieSailor
    @OkieSailor

    Kate Braestrup (View Comment):
    Which isn’t to say that I wouldn’t put a pink shirt on a boy baby (I would and I have), or rush out and buy one of those weird little headbands for a (bald) girl: I wasn’t a particularly feminine kid myself after all. I’m already knitting him/her a red sweater. But the kid will, nonetheless, be a boy or a girl. That’s how the world works. 

    I have worn pink shirts (don’t have any currently or that would be present tense) and I think it’s ridiculous for boys, let alone men, to be intimidated by any color!! 
    I can’t imagine any male being that easily knocked off kilter unless he was otherwise unstable. But then I’m just not very easily intimidated, it generally involves firearms .>)
    As far as pronouns, call me whatever suits your fancy, I’ve been called a lot worse by a lot better than you I can Guar On Tee. 

    • #16
  17. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    I think this post is silly but I’ll suggest that I was always taught that people had a sex.  Language has gender.  

    • #17
  18. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Matty Van (View Comment):

    Midget Faded Rattlesnake (View Comment):

    Mitchell Messom (View Comment):

    I just like how “they” is becoming acceptable along side “she” and “he”. Makes life easier for everyone.

    Singular “they” dates back to Austen’s time, at least.

    Actually, the fourteenth century. Chances are, this was a spontaneous development in reaction to the gender-less “hit,” which, a thousand years ago, could be used as a sexless pronoun for people. Once the great masssacre of “h” began wiping out the h’s on some of our pronouns, though, “hit” became “it” and usage with people diminished to babies and animals.

    Speaking of said massacre, our “wh” words used to be “hw,” with the h pronounced: hwale (swims the seas), hwit (the color), hweel (goes round and round), hweat (for bread), hwich, hwy, and hwat for questions. With the h’s disappearing just about the time spelling was becoming settled, confused writers inverted the h and w.

    The massacre of h, of course, has reached its ultimate conclusion in much of England.

    Gender, once upon a time, meant “type,” derived from the same source as “genre.” With nouns in most European languages having only two or three “types” or “genders,” and one of the genders usually corresponding to one of the sexes, gender naturally expanded its range of meaning to include sex. Works in Europe.

    However, Niger languages, like Swahili, usually have around fifteen genders. How modern is that!

    Looks like some good history here. The story passed along with my surname, when asked what happened to the ‘h’, is that somewhere in time an ancestor had the ‘h’ knocked out of him.

    • #18
  19. TheSockMonkey Inactive
    TheSockMonkey
    @TheSockMonkey

    If we’re going to distinguish between male and female, we really should have another word, that doesn’t also refer to the act of reproduction, and can even refer to sexual organs (OK, maybe only in romance novels, but still).

    Though it may not be entirely correct, I will continue to use “gender.” Anyone who doesn’t like that can feel free to come up with a third term. 

    • #19
  20. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    Matty Van (View Comment):

    Midget Faded Rattlesnake (View Comment):

    Mitchell Messom (View Comment):

    I just like how “they” is becoming acceptable along side “she” and “he”. Makes life easier for everyone.

    Singular “they” dates back to Austen’s time, at least.

    Actually, the fourteenth century. Chances are, this was a spontaneous development in reaction to the gender-less “hit,” which, a thousand years ago, could be used as a sexless pronoun for people. Once the great masssacre of “h” began wiping out the h’s on some of our pronouns, though, “hit” became “it” and usage with people diminished to babies and animals.

    Speaking of said massacre, our “wh” words used to be “hw,” with the h pronounced: hwale (swims the seas), hwit (the color), hweel (goes round and round), hweat (for bread), hwich, hwy, and hwat for questions. With the h’s disappearing just about the time spelling was becoming settled, confused writers inverted the h and w.

    The massacre of h, of course, has reached its ultimate conclusion in much of England.

    Gender, once upon a time, meant “type,” derived from the same source as “genre.” With nouns in most European languages having only two or three “types” or “genders,” and one of the genders usually corresponding to one of the sexes, gender naturally expanded its range of meaning to include sex. Works in Europe.

    However, Niger languages, like Swahili, usually have around fifteen genders. How modern is that!

    You can see the “hw” vestige in Norse languages that still use “hv” for some words.  I remember a town named Hverager∂i in Iceland (except they use a special symbol whose name escapes me for the voiced “th” sound).  Of course, the Americans pronounced it Hurdy Gurdy.  

    Also, ”sw” like for sword and swear used to both have a silent “w” as recently as the 19th centruy.

    • #20
  21. Matty Van Inactive
    Matty Van
    @MattyVan

    Skyler (View Comment):

    You can see the “hw” vestige in Norse languages that still use “hv” for some words. I remember a town named Hverager∂i in Iceland (except they use a special symbol whose name escapes me for the voiced “th” sound). Of course, the Americans pronounced it Hurdy Gurdy.

    Also, ”sw” like for sword and swear used to both have a silent “w” as recently as the 19th centruy.

    The t in listen, fasten, glisten, soften, often… Except it’s making a significant and surprising comeback in often.

    The k in kn: knock, know, knight.

    The gh which has disappeared: flight, knight. Or become k in both spelling and pronunciation: book. Or become f in pronunciation: tough

    Spelling reformers in the 19th century liked the word “ghoti”. You know, as in a McDonald’s ghoti fillet sandwich? That’s the gh of tough, the o of women, and the ti of nation.

    Spelling solidified thanks to William Caxton’s introduction of the printing press in 1476, while pronunciation continued on its merry every-changing way. Thanks to which, we have the whole spelling bee industry.

    • #21
  22. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    Matty Van (View Comment):

    Skyler (View Comment):

    You can see the “hw” vestige in Norse languages that still use “hv” for some words. I remember a town named Hverager∂i in Iceland (except they use a special symbol whose name escapes me for the voiced “th” sound). Of course, the Americans pronounced it Hurdy Gurdy.

    Also, ”sw” like for sword and swear used to both have a silent “w” as recently as the 19th centruy.

    The t in listen, fasten, glisten, often… Except it’s making a significant and surprising comeback in often.

    The k in kn: knock, know, knight.

    The gh which has disappeared: flight, knight. Or become k in both spelling and pronunciation: book. Or become f in pronunciation: tough

    Spelling reformers in the 19th century like the word “ghoti”. You know, as in a McDonald’s ghoti fillet sandwich? That’s the gh of tough, the o of women, and the ti of nation.

    The power of English is that there may be “reformers” out there, but they are acting on their own.  There is no official version of the language, unlike French and Spanish, and our language is much richer because of it.  These universtities may wish to pervert the language, but there’s no requirement that anyone else honor their lunacy.

    • #22
  23. Matty Van Inactive
    Matty Van
    @MattyVan

    Skyler (View Comment):.

    The power of English is that there may be “reformers” out there, but they are acting on their own. There is no official version of the language, unlike French and Spanish, and our language is much richer because of it. These universtities may wish to pervert the language, but there’s no requirement that anyone else honor their lunacy.

    Yep. I’m afraid, though, that we often do honor their lunacy. Sometimes that’s for the good. As in honor instead of honour, one of the few of Webster’s excellent spelling reforms that actually took hold. And then there’s dubious changes such as chairperson, fire fighter etc. which have made some penetration. Not exactly lunacy, but there’s a whole industry among the educated elite (both conservative and liberal)  trying to preserve forms which are neither natural nor necessary (though they were once both natural and necessary) such as whom for grammatical objects.

    But there has never been any reformist lunacy as idiotic as this pronoun controversy.

    • #23
  24. Joseph Stanko Coolidge
    Joseph Stanko
    @JosephStanko

    My preferred pronoun is “His Imperial Majesty.”

    • #24
  25. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    Matty Van (View Comment):

    Skyler (View Comment):.

    The power of English is that there may be “reformers” out there, but they are acting on their own. There is no official version of the language, unlike French and Spanish, and our language is much richer because of it. These universtities may wish to pervert the language, but there’s no requirement that anyone else honor their lunacy.

    Yep. I’m afraid, though, that we often do honor their lunacy. Sometimes that’s for the good. As in honor instead of honour, one of the few of Webster’s excellent spelling reforms that actually took hold. And then there’s chairperson, fire fighter etc. which have made some penetration. Not exactly lunacy, but there’s a whole industry among the educated elite (both conservative and liberal) trying to preserve forms which are neither natural nor necessary (though they were once both natural and necessary) such as whom for grammatical objects.

    But there has never been any reformist lunacy as idiotic as this pronoun controversy.

    Well, adapting conventions is fine.  Accepting lunacy is not.

    For instance, some group of people may have decided Pluto is not a planet.  They have their rules.  I have mine.

    • #25
  26. Matty Van Inactive
    Matty Van
    @MattyVan

    Skyler (View Comment):

    Well, adapting conventions is fine. Accepting lunacy is not.

    Excellent distinction. Though I will try to remember to use Joseph’s preferred pronoun from now on.

    • #26
  27. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    Gary McVey (View Comment):

    The term “gender” didn’t start with the Left. It started because people were adverse to using the word “sex”, and few of those people were on the left. Think of the kind of 1910-era folk who used to refer to a piano’s “limbs” because they didn’t want to say (gasp!) legs.

     

    There is nothing the Left can’t run with and make stupider. 

    • #27
  28. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    Joseph Stanko (View Comment):

    My preferred pronoun is “His Imperial Majesty.”

    Or perhaps, Captain Justice, Guardian of the Realm, Leader of the Resistance.

    • #28
  29. Kephalithos Member
    Kephalithos
    @Kephalithos

    TheSockMonkey (View Comment): If we’re going to distinguish between male and female, we really should have another word, that doesn’t also refer to the act of reproduction, and can even refer to sexual organs (OK, maybe only in romance novels, but still).

    Agreed. When (if?) “sex” became shorthand for “sexual intercourse,” we lost yet another useful distinction — and a way of navigating a thorny subject around children.

    In true postmodern spirit, I’d nominate “chromosomality,” but . . . eh, no. Blech. Never mind.

    • #29
  30. Joseph Stanko Coolidge
    Joseph Stanko
    @JosephStanko

    Skyler (View Comment):

    Joseph Stanko (View Comment):

    My preferred pronoun is “His Imperial Majesty.”

    Or perhaps, Captain Justice, Guardian of the Realm, Leader of the Resistance.

    Who knew lawyers had a sense of humor?

    • #30
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