Two things that came across my consciousness this week that made me go, “Hmmmm.”
#1 Gaby Dunn on Gender Reveal
#2 “Call Them What They Wants” by John McWhorter
Who is They?
— “I went to the post office and asked about the new Willa Cather stamps.”
— “Oh yeah? What’d they say?”
A personal essay in support of they pronouns and why I both do and don’t feel a connection to them…
We’ve been using the “singular they” for a long time in conversational language. Written language (thankfully) evolved in the last 30-ish years away from “him” and “he” standing in for both male and female to the relatively inclusive, but awkward, “he/she,” “(s)he,” or “him or her.” (more…)