Re: gendering

[Jeffrey Walton]

On Sat, Sep 18, 2021 at 9:19 PM Bruno Haible <bruno@clisp.org> wrote:
>
> This gendering stuff is generally off-topic on this list, but it came up here,
> therefore I'm replying here. I hope the thread will be short, since so much
> has already been written on this topic.
>
> Hi Colin,
>
> You wrote:
> > CCing Bruno since this was their commit and they might want to have a look.
>
> While I understand the motivation of gendered language, and myself use
> "they/their/them" when talking about an *unidentified* individual in English
> — so as to be inclusive and not offend the Sarahs and Leahs of this world —,
> in return I ask that you and others treat me as a human. Not as a number.
> Not as an email address. But as an *identified* person. In this role, I have
> a first name and a last name. And as usual in Western culture, the first
> name gives a good clue about the gender. When my first name is used in the
> US, it has 100% probability of being a male's first name [1]. Like yours
> has a 99.6% probability [2]. Therefore please apply a bit of common sense
> when talking about me.
>
> Some people might say "just add (he/his) to your signature". I say NO.
> For the vast majority of people in Western culture, the gender can be
> inferred from the first name. The Sarahs and Leahs of this world are a
> minority, and it's wrong for a minority to dictate what the majority
> should do.

+1.

Using they/them is also disrespective of folks in the LGBTQ community
who wish to be identified in a particular way. For example, if someone
is born a little teapot with a spout but calls themselves Sarah, it is
considered disrespectful to not acknowledge their preferred gender.
Also see 
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/actually-we-should-not-all-use-they-them-pronouns/.

I think Dr. Stallman had a pretty good idea... Call the folks who are
not sure what their identity is by "pers". It avoids the grammatical
problems with subject/pronoun disagreement. Subject/pronoun
disagreement is a living hell for me. It is nearly impossible for me
to read such a sentence without breaking and reading the sentence
multiple times. Also see
https://stallman.org/articles/genderless-pronouns.html.

Jeff