On Sat, Sep 18, 2021 at 9:19 PM Bruno Haible <br...@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
