ive been reading a book that basically explains how so-called “brain differences” between the genders is the result of gendered socialization and not the cause of it. i honestly expected the book to be very cis-centric but its actually the opposite, the author stresses that testimony from trans ppl is actually indispensable because we’ve, in a sense, “lived both experiences”
more cis feminists should have this mindset
one of the first examples that she uses to introduce her point about how perception by others can shape a person’s performance actually uses a trans woman. it explains that as a certain trans woman became to be seen as a woman more and more frequently, the ppl arond her eventually started viewing her as being ill equipped for tasks that they did not bother her about pre-transition. eventually she even found herself underperforming in these tasks herself.
I knew it was this book before I’d finished reading the first two lines. Honestly this book is indispensible if you want to debunk any gender determinism people claim is science. I can’t recommend it enough.
(Bonus bonus: I am myself a neuroscientist, and the old white men mentioned above – who are not – could not have missed the point harder if they’d actively tried. Which. Maybe?)
i don’t want to achieve equality by sinking to men’s level, i want them to get on ours! why should i have to unlearn the conversational art of waiting my turn, unlearn sexual self-restraint, unlearn trust in others’ good intentions, unlearn the impulse to cater to others’ needs, just to have a chance at success among savages? why can’t the men learn some fucking manners so we can all conduct our affairs in a civilized manner? i shouldn’t have to stop saying sorry, you say sorry!
In the 80s when I was in my freshman year in college, they still had entirely separate mens and women’s dorms. I was in class waiting for a final to start and one of the guys was telling someone about how he had had to go into a women’s dorm to drop something off, and he was startled to see posters on the walls, flowers, curtains, etc. He said his men’s dorm had holes in the walls, things on fire, fights, guys walking around with open wounds and he just didn’t understand why they had to live like this. He said, “I want to live with the women, in civilization.”
Am reading Sisterhood of Spies, about women working for the OSS during WWII. One of the stories mentions that the women in London had a male visitor who would eat in their mess hall once a month. He was married and wasn’t interested in hitting on any of the women; he just wanted to eat in an atmosphere where people said “Please pass the butter,” instead of “PASS THE GODDAMNED GREASE”
I dated a guy who brought me along on group activities (movies, video game night, etc.) with four or five other male friends. Once I mentioned to one of the other guys that I hoped I wasn’t intruding on their “guy time” or some such. He got this sort of rueful look and said, “The truth is, I really like it when you’re here because it gives us a reason to act better. When it’s just guys, we all have to try to outdo each other with how vile we are.”
So the moral of these stories are men don’t even treat each other like human beings.
Me to my 6-year-old son: “You seem to like playing with the girls at school more than the boys. Why do you think that is?”
6-year-old son: “Sometimes I just don’t want to be pushed. It hurts and is mean. And the girls always pretend to be princesses or fun animals and stuff when they have tea parties. The boys just dump the tea all over the place. That’s just stupid and I don’t like wasting all that tea. It takes forever to make.”
Me: “Wow, I can understand why you’d rather play with the girls. The boys seem like they’re kind of rough.”
6-year-old son: “And when I play with the girls they make me the king because none of the other boys want to play tea party.”
Me: “Do you like being the king?”
6-year-old son: “Not really – I’d rather be a wizard, but it makes Georgia and Vivian happy.”
So we’re teaching girls to be anxious wrecks and boys to disregard the possibility of consequences for incautious behavior.
This explains a lot of things. Like… why women are anxious wrecks and men are frequently surprised when it turns out their actions do in fact have consequences.
And why men don’t bother asking for help even when they really need it, and thus more frequently die from treatable health conditions (including depression), while women end up getting a broad stereotype of being hypochondriacs (and then having a hard time getting treatment for legitimate health concerns).
To clarify, I’m having trouble writing out how he came to realize he was genderfluid (since most all people usually start out thinking they’re just like everyone else, you know?)
Okay, so we get a lot of these questions, and I find them hard to answer. I’m going to give it a try though. Here, for all of you wondering, are my general tips for writing genderfluid characters:
There is a lot of variety among genderfluid people! Some switch names, some don’t; some switch pronouns, some don’t; some switch presentation, some don’t. We have different kinds and degrees and presence/absence of dysphoria, same for medical transition, same for social transition. Some of us switch between two genders, some between many, some rapidly, some slowly, some regularly, some unpredictably. For some the switch is very noticeable, for some not; for some it’s sudden, for some it’s gradual. Some switch between male and female, others between different genders. It’s okay for your character to be any of these things, but don’t set them up as the Genderfluid Person Prototype. It would be good to acknowledge within the narrative that there exists a lot of variety and not every genderfluid person is like your character.
Many genderfluid people identify as trans, but some don’t. All, however, have access to the term. Don’t confuse “trans” with “binary trans”.
Do research on trans and nonbinary and genderfluid stuff: terminology, politics, lives, problems, ideas. Not just from here. From a lot of sources. Make sure you’re clear on the definition of genderfluid and the difference from other labels—there can be and often is overlap, but you need to understand the differences first. And don’t allow your narrative to be cissexist unchallenged.
Have a trans, ideally nonbinary, ideally genderfluid person read over your story and offer criticism and suggestions. Even more ideally, have more than one do so.
Remember not every genderfluid person is white/skinny/dfab/western etc.
You could have more than one trans/nonbinary/genderfluid person, if you wanted! Go wild!
Is your character dmab or dfab (or possibly intersex)? Are you going to clarify this in the narrative, or keep it hidden? You have various options here, and there are advantages to each. Decide and figure out how you’re going to deal with that.
Don’t equate changes in presentation with changes in gender. They may be correlated for your character, but they’re not the same, and your narrative should acknowledge that.
If your character is closeted, that doesn’t mean you have to misgender them in the narration. Again, there’s variety here. Someone might be fully aware of their gender but not out to anyone, but still use pronouns in their head that make them comfy—if it’s from their perspective, you should use those pronouns. Or they might not be aware of their gender—there are a lot of directions you could go for pronoun usage in this scenario. Or they might be trying out different pronouns inside their head. Or they might not be out to themself but still find themself using different pronouns. To be honest, it’s kind of gimmicky and gross to do the whole, narrate using pronouns associated with assigned gender until they realize or come out or change presentation or transition somehow, then make a dramatic pronoun switch—especially if you, the writer, are a cis person. I would avoid that. And to be honest, if you’re narrating from their point of view and they have a fully developed pronoun preference, there’s really no excuse for your narration to misgender them, regardless of if they’re closeted. (Other characters’ dialogue, of course, is a different matter.) If you’re trans, there’s a little more leeway. But be careful here, and be respectful. Don’t use pronoun changes for shock value, and don’t use being closeted as an excuse to misgender them just because it’s more comfortable for you. (This point is slightly different with genderfluid characters than other nonbinary or trans characters, but it still applies. If pronoun switching is happening, it should probably be because their identity is switching.)
We get kind of lonely. Does your character know any other trans/nonbinary/genderfluid people? Any internet friends? Any support groups? If not, again, they’re probably feeling pretty lonely.
We don’t pop out of the womb knowing everything there is to know about gender. There’s generally a lot of research and thought involved, if we’re at the point where we know what we are and what it means.
Take into account cultural factors. Two people from different cultures and/or time periods will probably have different experiences, conceptualizations, and expressions of their gender.
Make sure that your character has traits and interests other than their gender. It’s more important to some of us and less to others, but we’re all full people that exist beyond being genderfluid.
Is your story realism or fantasy? If it’s fantasy, is there transphobia and cissexism in your fictional world? It doesn’t need to be the focus, but I think it’s a good idea to at least acknowledge that transphobia/etc is a thing in our/the world.
I feel like I’m forgetting something but I can’t think of it.
As for your specific question, again, there’s a lot of variety. Personally, I had a sudden epiphany in which I realized I wasn’t my assigned gender, then I went and did a ton of research and introspection over a few months to a year to understand the specifics. I know many people start out using one type of trans label, and cycle between others until they find one that works. Often people encounter someone else who’s trans/nonbinary/genderfluid, feel a sense of recognition/identification, and realize they’re like that too. Or that could happen through some other source—a character, a news article, etc. Sometimes people know something’s up and gradually figure out it’s to do with their gender, and what the specifics are. Some people have always been aware of their gender doing A Thing, and how that thing works, and eventually find the words for it. Some people notice odd characteristics/preferences/behaviors in themselves that confuse them, so they do some research and come across these terms and ideas. Those are just a few ways people can realize.
“they” (1 word) is shorter than “he or she” (3 words)
“they” is more inclusive than “he/she”
“themself” flows more naturally than “him or herself”
“they” is less clunky than “(s)he”
it’s time to replace the awkward “she or he”
“hey can you go ask they what does they want for dinner, and when is they coming over to watch movies with they?”
“Hey, can you go ask them what they want for dinner, and when they’re coming over to watch movies?”
Step one is learning how to talk like a human person.
Friendly reminder:
“I shouldn’t like to punish anyone, even if they’d done me wrong.” —George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss (1860)
“A person can’t help their birth.” —William Thackeray, Vanity Fair (1848)
“But to expose the former faults of any person, without knowing what their present feelings were, seemed unjustifiable.” —Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813)
“Every Fool can do as they’re bid.” —Jonathan Swift, Polite Conversation (1738)
“So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” —King James Bible, Matthew 18:35 (transl. 1611)
“God send every one their heart’s desire!” —William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing (~1600)
“Now this king did keepe a great house, that euerie body might come and take their meat freely.” —Sir Philip Sidney, the Arcadia (1580)
“If … a psalme scape any person, or a lesson, or els yt they omyt one verse or twayne…” —William Bonde, The Pylgrimage of Perfection (1526)
“And whoso fyndeth hym out of swich blame, / They wol come up and offre a Goddés name” —Geoffrey Chaucer, The Pardoner’s Tale (~1380)
“þan hastely hiȝed eche wiȝt on hors & on fote, / huntyng wiȝt houndes alle heie wodes, / til þei neyȝþed so neiȝh to nymphe þe soþe [Then hastily hied each person on horse and on foot / hunting with hounds all the high woods / ‘til they came so near, to tell the truth]” —William and the Werwolf (transl. ~1350-1375)
“Bath ware made sun and mon, / Aiþer wit þer ouen light [Both were made sun and moon / Either with their own light]” —Cursor Mundi (~1325)
We’ve been using they/them/their pronouns to indicate a person with unspecified gender for a long ass fucking time. The only reason it’s become a big issue lately is because it can be used as a semi-respectful term for trans and non-binary folks and we can’t have that can we
These fucks are literally trying to change our language to hurt trans/nb folks, and claiming that’s just the way its always been
Also most languages have gender neutral terminology.
ive been reading a book that basically explains how so-called “brain differences” between the genders is the result of gendered socialization and not the cause of it. i honestly expected the book to be very cis-centric but its actually the opposite, the author stresses that testimony from trans ppl is actually indispensable because we’ve, in a sense, “lived both experiences”
more cis feminists should have this mindset
one of the first examples that she uses to introduce her point about how perception by others can shape a person’s performance actually uses a trans woman. it explains that as a certain trans woman became to be seen as a woman more and more frequently, the ppl arond her eventually started viewing her as being ill equipped for tasks that they did not bother her about pre-transition. eventually she even found herself underperforming in these tasks herself.
I knew it was this book before I’d finished reading the first two lines. Honestly this book is indispensible if you want to debunk any gender determinism people claim is science. I can’t recommend it enough.
(Bonus bonus: I am myself a neuroscientist, and the old white men mentioned above – who are not – could not have missed the point harder if they’d actively tried. Which. Maybe?)
Gender dysphoria is the intense, painful feeling that the physical sex of one’s body is ‘wrong’, resulting in the strong desire to become the opposite sex. A transgender person is someone who suffers from gender dysphoria, often from a very young age.
Puberty blockers, or hormone blockers, are used to suppress puberty in gender dysphoric children at the onset of puberty. They temporarily prevent the development of (secondary) sex characteristics, many of which are irreversible. This buys them extra time and allows them to make a decision about their body at an age where they’re better able to handle the responsibility.
“Children shouldn’t medically transition!”
A useless argument, because children do not medically transition to begin with. Cross-sex hormone therapy is not started before the age of 16-18 years old. For children, ‘transition’ usually consists of things like name and pronoun changes, clothing changes, hair style changes, changes in their social lives, and if eligible, temporary puberty suppression. These are all non-permanent changes.
“Children can’t make such a decision yet!”
Hormone blockers are not a permanent decision, it is the delay of one. Hormone blockers simply put puberty on hold. When the child stops taking them, puberty commences as normal. They are fully reversible. It allows them time until they can make the decision. This ensures it becomes their choice, not that of the parents or strangers on the internet.
“They aren’t safe!”
Hormone blockers have been deemed (relatively) safe by the medical professionals using and studying them. [1]
The choice for hormone blockers is about risk reduction. No medication is 100% safe. But in the case of a genuinely dysphoric teenager, who is at risk for, or already suffering from: major depression, self-harm, eating disorders, trauma/PTSD, permanent physical alterations that may result in unsuccessful transition and life-long gender dysphoria, and at worst, suicide – then hormone blockers preventing and reducing all these symptoms are by far the safer option. [2][3][4]
“Hormone blockers lead to a loss of bone mass, which will lead to osteoporosis.”
An unfounded claim, one countered by a study that followed 127 patients receiving hormone blockers, which concluded that the blockers had minimal effect on the bone mineral density, and upon receiving cross-sex hormone therapy was able to fully catch up to normal or near-normal levels. [5]
“Hormone blockers prevent the male genitals from reaching adult size, which makes bottom surgery impossible!”
This affects MtF patients only. It cannot be used as an argument to deny FtM patients hormone blockers.
It’s also false. Hormone blockers delay puberty. The patient can always choose to stop them and let natural puberty commence, should they consider that worth it. Secondly, this is not the only possibility for MtF bottom surgery. There are options that don’t rely on the enlargement of the male genitalia (or on its presence at all, if the genitalia have been fully removed). [6][7]
“Hormone blockers might halt brain development.”
There is no evidence for this claim. However, there is evidence that hormone blockers have no significant effect on executive functioning (basic cognitive processes that help you memorize, organize and complete tasks). [8]
An fMRI-study in adolescents with gender dysphoria determined whether the performance on the Tower of London task, a commonly used executive functioning task, was altered in adolescents on hormone blockers. The study found no significant effect of hormone blockers on performance scores (reaction times and accuracy) when comparing treated gender dysphoric patients with untreated patients. [9]
“We don’t fully understand all the long-term consequences of hormone blockers.”
We probably don’t fully understand all the consequences of what administering chemotherapy to children might do in the long term either, and the late effects we do know of can be quite serious, but surely you wouldn’t advocate we let young cancer patients die instead.
When self-harm and suicide become realistic risks in a young gender dysphoric patient, hormone blockers are still the safer path.
“They’re not gonna die without them. It’s unnecessary.”
Puberty suppression leads to an improved global psychosocial functioning in gender dysphoric adolescents. [10][11]
Generally people interpret “life-threatening” as “the body will physically die if we do nothing,” while suicide is seen as a deliberate choice. But the healthy don’t commonly choose to commit suicide, and if we took a moment to stop treating the long-term depressed as whiners, fakers or people who just need to do some yoga and cheer up, we could view suicide as the possible outcome of an untreated, ill brain the way death is the possible outcome of an untreated cancer.
When hormone blockers are the only treatment to successfully alleviate the depression and suicidal urges, we can say hormone blockers are necessary and life-saving.
“The body shouldn’t go too long without sex hormones.”
The
Dutch model for transgender care, recommended by the World Professional
Association for Transgender Health as standard procedure, recommends a
maximum of 4 years on hormone blockers, giving patients until the age of
16-18 to make a permanent decision. Patients begin puberty suppression on average around the age of 14, and continue for about three years. [12, page 45][13]
“Chemicals are bad!!”
Everything is chemicals.
You wouldn’t make this argument to deny child cancer patients chemotherapy.
“Children can’t know they’re transgender.”
Studies support the theory that brains are sexually dimorphic and there is a neurological basis for the feeling of being male or female. This helps explain why a person may feel male/female while their physical body is the opposite. The fact that gender dysphoria exists all over the world and can even be traced back in history, no matter the drastic differences in societies, shows that it cannot have a purely social cause, and current theories strongly suggest that, much like sexuality, people are born with a ‘brain sex’. [14][15]
This is also reflected in the story of David Reimer, a biological boy who was raised as a girl after a botched circumcision. Psychologist John Money set out to prove that gender identity was taught, not innate. However, David never identified with his reassigned gender, and upon finally learning the truth, underwent reconstructive surgeries to become physically male again. David attempted suicide several times during his teenage years. [16][17]
Children may be incapable of fully understanding the concepts of gender, sex and the medical transition process, but because of the biological nature of the condition, this is not required to suffer from gender dysphoria. Children are not incapable of feeling (emotional) pain or when something is ‘wrong’ with their body. Little boys found with sharp objects to cut off their genitalia due to the severe distress they cause them are not just stories, these children really exist. Hormone blockers provide them relief and enough time to allow them to make a decision.
“Children don’t even understand sex and what sexual purpose their genitals have!”
Neither gender dysphoria nor genitalia are inherently about sex. Genitals are a natural part of the human body. Transgender people can be completely asexual and still suffer from genital dysphoria. Genital dysphoria is not about the desire to have sex, it’s about correcting the feeling that the body is ‘wrong’.
“Children are stupid. One day they want to be a girl, the next day they’re a cat!”
This is a gross misinterpretation of the serious and long-term nature of gender dysphoria, and the pain and grief it causes a child suffering from it.
When treated right, gender dysphoric children are closely monitored for an ongoing time. If there were such drastic changes, that would exclude them from the diagnosis.
“If children are too young for tattoos, they are too young for this!”
Tattoos are not a necessity, medication where the benefits outweigh the risk is. The transition process for transgender people is not cosmetic or a fashion statement, it is an often live-saving medical need.
And while tattoos are permanent, puberty suppression through hormone blockers is not.
“It’s child abuse!”
Child abuse is ignoring the needs of a child suffering from sincere, long-term emotional pain and knowingly putting them at risk for major depression, self-harm, eating disorders, trauma/PTSD, permanent physical alterations that may result in unsuccessful transition and life-long gender dysphoria, and at worst, suicide.
“Children will grow out of it.”
Your data on how many children may grow out of it will differ incredibly based on the area you research. For example, the model used in the Netherlands
follows teenagers on hormone blockers through the years and ultimately saw every single one of them transition to the opposite sex, with none of them regretting it. Another article discussing the Dutch model states “I’ve yet to see one change their mind [..] because we’re using the psychological testing methods the Dutch have perfected, and they’ve yet to see one person change their mind. And they’ve run 100 kids through the treatment.” [18]
This clinic found that:
Gender Dysphoria may exist in childhood, but in only a minority of prepubertal children GD does it persist into adolescence. The percentage of “persisters” appears to be between 10% and 27%.
However:
Children who are still experiencing GD when entering puberty almost invariably go on to become gender dysphoric adults. [19]
A difference must be made between prepubescent children and adolescent children. The number that shows the majority of children will grow out of it affects prepubescent children only. Once gender dysphoria has persisted into adolescence, a child will “almost invariably” continue to suffer from it into adulthood. Growing out of it is no longer a common occurrence by this age, the age at which puberty suppressing medication first becomes an option.
Areas where statistics would show more detransitioners don’t automatically indicate a problem with the concept of hormone blockers, they indicate a problem with the assessment of who should receive them. It doesn’t mean hormone blockers shouldn’t be an option at all. A model that sees no regrets and few (zero may be unrealistic) mistakes is a real possibility, as the Dutch are already applying it. [20]
“I thought I was transgender as a kid, it would have been a mistake to give me hormones!”
The vast majority of these cases are about children who were gender non-conforming, but felt no distress about the physical sex of their body. Gender non-conformity alone, however, is not enough to diagnose gender dysphoria. Distress about the physical sex of the body and a desire to be the opposite sex must be present as well. The Dutch model for transgender care would not have found these patients eligible for hormone blockers. [21] This means these people were misdiagnosed. While that is a problem worth discussing as well, this has nothing to do with children who do suffer from gender dysphoria. You can’t use a wrong diagnosis to deny the rightfully diagnosed patients the treatment they need.
Furthermore, even if these children were given hormone blockers, the reversible nature of hormone blockers would have prevented any permanent damage. They too would have been given the extra time to make a decision, stop the treatment once they realized they weren’t transgender, and experience natural puberty as normal. There would have been nothing to regret because the treatment is reversible.
“Transtrending is a big problem. This one doctor/clinic hands out hormones like candy!”
Proving that there are doctors and/or clinics out there that use a faulty model to diagnose this condition doesn’t mean that the very concept of pausing puberty in the truly gender dysphoric is in itself wrong. The model used in the Netherlands shows that it is in fact possible to successfully diagnose gender dysphoric children and prevent such regrets and mistakes.
“It’s best to do nothing and let them experience puberty.”
You are not “doing nothing” when you deny a gender dysphoric teenager the option of hormone blockers. Forcing a gender dysphoric teen to go through natural puberty is also an irreversible, permanent decision that may have severely damaging and equally permanent consequences.
Puberty is puberty. If you are against parents “pushing” a teenager through cross-sex hormone therapy, you should be against parents forcing a gender dysphoric teenager through natural puberty as well. Hormone blockers are the only option that leave the decision with the person it affects.
Furthermore, understand that the Dutch model recommends that the patient has reached Tanner stage 2 or 3 [22] and be older than 12 years of age:
Some experience with one’s physical puberty is required because the authors assume that experiencing one’s own puberty is diagnostically useful. It is at the onset of puberty that it becomes clear whether the gender dysphoria will desist or persist. Starting around Tanner stages 2 to 3, the very first physical changes are still reversible.[23]
Susan Maasch, director of the Trans Youth Equality Foundation in Portland, Maine, states that:
There’s no way to make the child not feel the way they do. So the goal
should be to help them be less afraid… Treating them with a safe,
well-known hormone to temporarily prevent puberty has become a standard
of care because it buys these children time and a measure of relief.[24]
The only real neutral option here is to delay the decision with fully reversible hormone blockers.
“I’m still undecided on where I stand…”
Good news. You don’t have to decide anything. It’s not your call to make. It’s not up to us to play doctor from behind our screens.
I make no decisions for these children either. All I advocate for is that the option of hormone blockers is available. I advocate for a medical model that takes gender dysphoria in children seriously, while still preventing mistakes and regrets. A model that allows doctors and parents to make the best choice for the individual child’s needs, while leaving any permanent decisions in the hands of the patient.
We don’t have to decide. We simply have to show some empathy and understanding for the pain these children suffer from, and the understanding that there are those that truly need the option of hormone blockers.
I know I’ve made comments in the past, but with the comprehensive information here, I have to say that my stance has evolved a lot.
I really appreciate @myragewillendworlds for putting all this info and all these resources together. Thank you so much for helping everyone get a better understanding of the matter.
“genitalia associated with cis women are harshly stigmatized and policed as part of misogyny, which can lead to violence” and “not all women have vaginas and not everyone with a vagina is a woman” and “trans peoples’ bodies are harshly stigmatized and policed as part of transphobia, which can lead to violence” are not mutually exclusive factsx and in fact all of these things are very much interlinked, and should not be used as gotchas! against each other
Also, vaginas that belong to people who aren’t women (whether male, nonbinary, agender, etc.) are sites of gendered violence as well
also, no one has brought this up at all, but i think that neo-pronouns have a place in the queer movement. i personally don’t like most of them, and i’m reluctant to use, idfk, bun-self pronouns, but here’s the thing.
most if not all neo-pronouns exist to reject the use of GENDER as the primary identifying feature of person to person language (idk if there’s an actual word for that, i’m a linguist in spirit not in vocabulary). in english, the set-up for singular third-person pronouns is as follows: male-aligned, female-aligned, and (if you’re not a coward) neither-aligned, neutral. that’s he/him, she/her, and they/them, respectively. even our neutral pronouns have a basis in the binary system of using gender as the main identifier, because ‘neutral’ is generally used to mean ‘on the same spectrum but between the two poles’. think about it–EVERY pronoun we use to speak about someone in the third person is gendered or derived from gender in some way.
not so for ze/zir/zerself. the closest some of these pronouns get to the actual proper pronoun system is how they reflect the use of Mx. as an honorific, and the use of Mx. is almost non-existent. saying you use ey/em/emself pronouns is like taking a linguistic step away from the gender system. you can still kind of trace the roots of some of these pronouns to the previous system (ey/em is likely derived from they/them, for example) but they don’t really lie on the male—-neutral—-female spectrum we’ve used for centuries.
noun-self pronouns take it a step further. it’s not just taking the gender out of the pronoun, it’s putting something else in its place. as a political statement, that holds INCREDIBLE meaning. noun-self pronouns spit in the face of proper english, cishet ideology, and mainstream culture all in one fell swoop. in fact, my own inability to completely divorce myself from the current system and accept noun-self pronouns is probably incredibly indicative of how counter to our culture it is to use them.
there are practical arguments against neo-pronouns that may or may not hold water, but AS A TREND (i’m not using this word to belittle the usage, btw, i’m just describing the rise of neo-pronouns) they have the same roots as gnc dress and the battle against gender roles. they FEEL different and ‘extra wrong’ because it’s been so long since we’ve had any sort of pronoun system that doesn’t rely on gender, in most languages, and that probably means neo-pronouns are all the more important in the long run. taking gender out of conversations that don’t need it may help us move past the friction that always rises around LGBTQ+ identities.
idk, it’s just something to think about.
this is a sweet-ass post and I’m gonna tag @nbpsiioniic in it.
i'll apple your turnover 