E.G. BellI don’t write about things political much anymore. I have opinions but I remember how I felt two presidential elections ago and I resolved to try to avoid things that agitate sore spots of those who were disappointed in the outcome of our last presidential election.
The results are what they are and I am at least smart enough to know that I’m not going to convince anyone with facts they are not prepared to accept, even when accompanied by proof.
I read a lot, especially news, and since I used to work in Quality Assurance, every little mistake jumps right out at me. With my background, pronoun-related things are among those that have been catching my eye lately. People want to have ‘preferred pronouns’. That has introduced a lot of heartburn and backlash.
For example, Kari Lake (candidate for Governor of Arizona) said her pronouns are “I/won.” Ted Cruz (Green Eggs and Ham senator) says his pronouns are “kiss my ass.” Lauren Bobert (“Two words: Let’s Go Brandon”) only reports one pronoun, saying it is “Patriot.” Elon Musk (Chief Twit) says his pronouns are “Prosecute/Fauci.” I’m sure I could find other examples, but you can hopefully see where I’m going. These examples are enough to show that some people don’t seem to have an understanding of what pronouns are. Herschel Walker (Werewolves can kill vampires) actually stated that he did not know what pronouns are.
Pronoun Per Merriam-Webster online dictionary:
a word that can function by itself as a noun phrase and that refers either to the participants in the discourse (e.g., I, you) or to someone or something mentioned elsewhere in the discourse (e.g., she, it, this ).
Pronouns can cause confusion. Many times my wife will start a fluid conversation that flits around switching mid-thought between multiple people using the same pronoun (i.e. she/her) for identification. Someone hearing the conversation can get hopelessly lost. I get hopelessly lost. I have to say ‘pronouns’ to my wife, a trigger to get her to back up and use the actual name of the new subject of the conversation. Pronouns can cause confusion.
I am a registered Independent. I have little patience with any of the recent political tinkering with pronouns. Personal pronouns are I, we, you, he, she, it, they. I can’t think of any pronouns that work as a verb. Or involve romantic gestures with large body parts. Or legal actions. Or listener-awkward preferences. Suchlike patterns have been popping up in the last several months.
We don’t always get our preferences. It was not long ago that when my wife and I went out to eat, we were asked about our smoking preferences. I always replied that I would prefer no one smoke. My preferences were never respected. I had to adjust or find somewhere else to eat. To me, that is kind of enlightening. Adjust or adapt. Petty is not required.
Those today who consider themselves non-binary and prefer we/they pronouns are being (my opinion) selves-ish when they INSIST on others honoring those preferences. When they take on pronouns that signify plurals, they are also appropriating a whole new set of verbs. He is/we are. I don’t know how far they take this. If I ever get a chance, I’m going to listen to see if they address themselves as ‘I’ or ‘we’. I have been thinking about how selfish this is. Taking plural pronouns and associated verbs when there are people in European countries who don’t even have enough vowels. Some people seem to be over-full of themselves.
On the other side of the conversation are the Ted Cruz-es, Lauren Bobert-s, Kari Lake-s, etc. Arguing seemingly just to argue. To ‘own the libs’. Dismiss and demean. It is like children arguing with children over something that, in the bigger picture, does not matter. Adjust or adapt. Petty is not required.
It seems there are better things to argue about. I have been giving this a lot of thought and I think I have a way to fix things that address non-binary pronoun concern and the plural verb thing also. It has been staring us right in the face the whole time. It comes from the standard list of personal pronouns. It is, in fact, IT.
Instead of we/they, the non-binary pronoun could be IT. WE ARE could become IT IS. WE ARE UNCOMFORTABLE HERE would be IT IS UNCOMFORTABLE HERE. The meaning is very slightly different but speaker and hearer would both have a reasonably good idea of the meaning (and subject) of the comment. Less confusing for listeners. It is gender-neutral. Singular verbs. We might even consider replacing he/she with “it.” Universal solution. Common ground.
I know a lot of this is, or hovers just around, silly. If it seems I’m making light of this pronoun “issue,” I am. My intent is not to be mean. My intent is an exaggeration to show how silly things can become. People can certainly choose to be identified however they prefer. People should also be free to choose to respect that preference. Or not. From an article on early Quakers about pronouns:
“To their critics, however, allowing some people to designate their own pronouns and expecting everyone else to oblige feels like a demand for distinction. Yes, some of these critics may be motivated by “transphobic” bigotry. But others genuinely see such demands as special treatment and a violation of equality. They themselves experience “he” and “she” as unchosen designations. Shouldn’t everyone, they ask, be equally subject to the laws of grammatical gender?”
I’m not going to be part of either quibble. People can prefer royal pronoun selves. I won’t feel obligated to contort my conversations to respect that preference. I also won’t be embracing non-pronoun ‘pronouns’ to protest, dismiss, or demean those royal gender-neutral individuals. The world is full of he/she and we/they can insist on their preference. Some battles are simply not worth the heartburn. For either side. Definitely not for me. I’m just going to consider all of them to be full of “IT.”
