Personal Pronouns
We use general neutral pronouns all the time. The most common gender-neutral pronoun is= they, them, their. We say humankind, not mankind and congressperson not congressman. When you go to lunch you have a server, not a waiter or waitress. Recently Harvard University began allowing people (gender-neutral) to use ze, e and they on the registration forms. https://www.citylab.com/life/2015/09/ze-or-they-a-guide-to-using-gender-neutral-pronouns/407167/
I suppose that language is always changing, and English is a prime example, so why not? I think this use of gender-fluid language has not caught on and it may be a while before it does. People are slow to change their minds and extremely stubborn. There are many people (due to their rigid definition of gender) that are simply unwilling to “change” their words. I have no idea how a person would identify their gender and it is none of my business. It is also not my job to make a person feel “less than” or uncomfortable with their life choices. I do not care what chromosomes you are born with, or what colors you want to wear (pink/blue). Whatever happened to yellow for a baby?
I grew up in the S.F Bay Area and there were many different people that I was exposed to from a young age. I never had an opinion about their gender, race or sexual identity. They were/are my friends. Were they different? Yes, we are all different and that is ok. When will it be alright to just be?
I watched the video we were assigned, and I like that one of the people in the video said using the incorrect pronoun is disrespectful. I like that because it is true, it is disrespectful to use the incorrect pronoun. Also, another person mentioned asking a person what their preferred pronoun is. This is brilliant because now we no longer need to feel like we might get it wrong. Just ask for clarification and you will have your answer.
