Recently, there was criticism of the “Who Was…” book on Harriet Tubman, based on its depiction of a young enslaved Harriet as being happy despite her situation. At the time, it was pointed out that the author of the book is White. I researched the “Who Was…” series in general and found that most of…
Month: January 2020
A Tale of Two Pronouns
There are two pronoun discussions that are common in non-binary conversation spaces. One is obvious, but the other is not so obviously about pronouns. The first: “They/them” or other gender-neutral pronouns. While neopronouns like “zie/zim” and “xie/xem” are still used by some people, “they/them” seems to be the most common choice these days. The advantage: These aren’t new…
“Okay, Boomer” and Ageism
It’s become a common complaint these days: “Okay, boomer!” is ageist. No, it’s not. It’s a rebuttal to ageism. Full disclosure: I’m from Generation X, but I’m only a few years too young to be a Boomer. I got my Bachelors Degrees on a full ride, and my student loan debt and early career wheel-spinning…
Moving On From Mr. Know-It-All
When I was a man, I had a lot of opinions that I presented as facts. I had a firm, detached, imperious voice with which I presented these facts. This is a voice I can still lean back on. I am well-trained in it. I hear it speaking when I read my “Gender Neutral: Author”…
Turning in my Man Card
Hi, yes, I’m here to turn in my Man Card. I’m not planning to use it anymore. What’s that? An exit survey? I thought I could just, you know, turn it in and that would be that. Well, okay, I do understand that there are processes that need to be followed. I mean, that’s a…
Gender Neutral: Actor
I was responding on Facebook to an article about non-binary entertainer Indya Moore. The article, correctly identifying that Moore uses “they” pronouns, referred to them as an “actress”. My comment was that a gendered term ought not to be used with a non-binary entertainer (unless they specifically request it), and suggested “actor” instead. This led…
Gender Neutral: Aunt/Uncle
For the most part, English can be spoken and written without references gender, although there are cases where it sounds stiff. “Spouse” can replace “husband” and “wife”; “sibling” can replace “brother” and “sister”. There are a few problematic pairings, though. Among the most common of these are niece/nephew, aunt/uncle, and sir/ma’am. For niece/nephew, “nibling” is…