And I tried using “she” as the default for a while, but people kept getting confused because they weren’t expecting it, and trying to figure out where I’d mentioned a female.
Yes—and this is the problem. People shouldn’t think that a female pronoun is weird… just because it’s female.
…and you shouldn’t be afraid of using it just because people might think it unusual and get confused for all of two seconds.
If you, and the other more post-prolific and respected members of the community used female pronouns more frequently (ie on average: as often as male ones) then eventually it would become commonplace and people would eventually figure it out.… that it’s just a pronoun. Just like the other one… only female.
Alternatively, a lot of people these days are just fine with “they”/”them”.
Yes we have twisted English into a way it never was used before and it sounds weird to those of us “brought up better”… but this is what happens with languages.
Especially English.
I’m sure I could go through your last post and pick out half a dozen things that, in their time, were considered weird and “not correct English”… until everyone that used to hate them died off and it became just part of common language.
AFAICT, it’s currently the most widely-accepted gender-neutral pronoun. You can fight the tide… or not. :)
Yes—and this is the problem. People shouldn’t think that a female pronoun is weird… just because it’s female. …and you shouldn’t be afraid of using it just because people might think it unusual and get confused for all of two seconds.
If you, and the other more post-prolific and respected members of the community used female pronouns more frequently (ie on average: as often as male ones) then eventually it would become commonplace and people would eventually figure it out.… that it’s just a pronoun. Just like the other one… only female.
Alternatively, a lot of people these days are just fine with “they”/”them”.
Yes we have twisted English into a way it never was used before and it sounds weird to those of us “brought up better”… but this is what happens with languages.
Especially English.
I’m sure I could go through your last post and pick out half a dozen things that, in their time, were considered weird and “not correct English”… until everyone that used to hate them died off and it became just part of common language.
AFAICT, it’s currently the most widely-accepted gender-neutral pronoun. You can fight the tide… or not. :)