Do you go by he/him, she/her or they, ze, hir? Pronouns are evolving [View all]

[question everything]

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The most common gender pronouns remain “he/him” or “she/her.” Identity, however, may not be driven by biology, but by psychology, as when a Melvin identifies more as a Melissa.

For those who consider themselves both male and female, or as neither — the term is non-binary — preferred pronouns could be “they,” or invented words such as “ze” or “hir.” In many ways, we already do this. We use “they” and “them,” when we don’t know someone’s gender, as in, “When the Über driver shows up, tell them I’ll be right out.”

That’s just verbal shorthand. This latest effort to change the language is aligned with a social movement, said Anne Curzan, a professor of English at the University of Michigan and member of the American Dialect Society.

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One indication of how quickly change can happen these days came late last year when the Times used a new courtesy title, Mx., when quoting a bookstore employee named Senia Hardwick. It clearly wasn’t the Times’ idea, describing Hardwick as someone “who prefers not to be assigned a gender — and also insists on the gender-neutral Mx. in place of Ms. or Mr.”

Because the newspaper still insists on courtesy titles, a rarity in itself, the request was honored, although the public editor has said continued use is on a case-by-case basis. That Mx. may seem startingly new today is testament to how the use of courtesy titles has dwindled. But it also shows how some people are rethinking gender.

Last year, the Washington Post allowed using “they” to refer to “people who identify as neither male nor female.”

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For a long time, she said, the language defaulted to male terms, as in, “Everyone wants his life to be happy.” Over time, “they” variants stepped in, as in “Everyone wants their lives to be happy.”

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http://www.startribune.com/do-you-go-by-he-him-she-her-or-they-ze-hir-pronouns-are-evolving/377284251/