This attitude doesn’t work. It’s impossible to keep your opinion to yourself in some situations, like when you need to talk to someone who wants to be called by a certain pronoune, or when some decisions have to be made that affect multiple people.
We have to figure this out as a society and get people on board, there is no way around it.
Judging by the fact that we are still debating about genders, biology, pronouns, declinations, sports, bathrooms and so on, society at large has not figured it out yet imo.
A vocal minority hasn’t, true. I just don’t think people should really bother wasting their effort trying to squeeze blood from a stone. Racism is still a thing, but the people who are still racist aren’t really going to be convinced by logic. If you feel it’s worth the effort then more power to you.
I get it though. I’m a cis man, and I have spent way too much emotional energy trying to convince people who won’t be convinced on this, and it doesn’t even effect my life. I can imagine it must feel more urgent for someone who is effected by them to try. I’ve just personally come to accept that it’s hopeless for some people and energy is better spent elsewhere. It’s not worth hurting your own mental health over these people, in my opinion.
Since when has singular they/them not been natural language flow? It’s been a common part of the English language foriterally hundreds of years. Shakespeare used it, but many before him did as well.
Your stupid arguments about things being “natural” are always missing (or ignoring on purpose) so much context. It makes no one want to take you seriously.
I’m a cis-gendered straight white man by the way. I’m not asking anyone to treat me differently from the way I’ve always been treated, but I think others deserve the same respect for the way they want to be treated. If you want to disrespect others who have done nothing wrong then you don’t deserve respect.
@Cethin@Mr_Blott To be fair, there was a big thing in schools about it being “improper English” for a bit. Some n+1th language speakers don’t find it comes naturally, and *in theory* there might be native variants of English where it isn’t present (though I have yet to see one – even anti-singular-they teachers tend to use it).
Linguistic prescription is bad, but that goes both ways. I find the ‘correctness’ argument much less compelling than the ‘common decency’ argument.
And what about language flow would you call “natural”? You’re aware of the fact that there are many other languages besides English, aren’t you? In most of them neither he or she or they are even words! Nothing natural at all. It’s just habitual.
Would you call Muhammad Ali Cassius Clay? Would you claim doing so would not not be offensive?
Would you like to explain what your issue is so I can elaborate? Maybe your reading comprehension is just poor because I didn’t say anything contradictory in my comment.
You can have any opinion you want as long as you keep it to yourself and don’t try to force anyone else to do what you want.
People can also have the opinion that you’re an asshole for the opinion that you hold.
This attitude doesn’t work. It’s impossible to keep your opinion to yourself in some situations, like when you need to talk to someone who wants to be called by a certain pronoune, or when some decisions have to be made that affect multiple people.
We have to figure this out as a society and get people on board, there is no way around it.
Society has figured it out. You’ll never be able to convince everyone though. The best that can be hoped for is that they just aren’t assholes.
Judging by the fact that we are still debating about genders, biology, pronouns, declinations, sports, bathrooms and so on, society at large has not figured it out yet imo.
A vocal minority hasn’t, true. I just don’t think people should really bother wasting their effort trying to squeeze blood from a stone. Racism is still a thing, but the people who are still racist aren’t really going to be convinced by logic. If you feel it’s worth the effort then more power to you.
I get it though. I’m a cis man, and I have spent way too much emotional energy trying to convince people who won’t be convinced on this, and it doesn’t even effect my life. I can imagine it must feel more urgent for someone who is effected by them to try. I’ve just personally come to accept that it’s hopeless for some people and energy is better spent elsewhere. It’s not worth hurting your own mental health over these people, in my opinion.
So you shouldn’t force someone to refer to you as they/them instead of using their natural language flow?
Since when has singular they/them not been natural language flow? It’s been a common part of the English language foriterally hundreds of years. Shakespeare used it, but many before him did as well.
Your stupid arguments about things being “natural” are always missing (or ignoring on purpose) so much context. It makes no one want to take you seriously.
I’m a cis-gendered straight white man by the way. I’m not asking anyone to treat me differently from the way I’ve always been treated, but I think others deserve the same respect for the way they want to be treated. If you want to disrespect others who have done nothing wrong then you don’t deserve respect.
@Cethin @Mr_Blott To be fair, there was a big thing in schools about it being “improper English” for a bit. Some n+1th language speakers don’t find it comes naturally, and *in theory* there might be native variants of English where it isn’t present (though I have yet to see one – even anti-singular-they teachers tend to use it).
Linguistic prescription is bad, but that goes both ways. I find the ‘correctness’ argument much less compelling than the ‘common decency’ argument.
deleted by creator
And what about language flow would you call “natural”? You’re aware of the fact that there are many other languages besides English, aren’t you? In most of them neither he or she or they are even words! Nothing natural at all. It’s just habitual.
Would you call Muhammad Ali Cassius Clay? Would you claim doing so would not not be offensive?
Yeah, now read that really slowly
Would you like to explain what your issue is so I can elaborate? Maybe your reading comprehension is just poor because I didn’t say anything contradictory in my comment.