Discussion: What pronoun to use for an ambiguous gender? - Page 2

ABEL-o-matic

Quote:

Originally posted by Katie

'e was proposed for a while, since it could be a shortened version of 'he' or 'she.' Thank God that did not catch on

And to the person that said singular they could be confusing, you can state it first with a 's/he' and thenswitch to 'they/their' for the rest of the sentence . That shows an unknown gender.

This! I'm not trying to sound bratty or ignorant, but it DOES get very annoying implementing that method when you're writing a fifteen page essay.

At least with this recommendation by Katie, it can ease the pain in the ass.

Jabril

They/them/their

KitKat

Quote:

Originally posted by ABEL

This! I'm not trying to sound bratty or ignorant, but it DOES get very annoying implementing that method when you're writing a fifteen page essay.

At least with this recommendation by Katie, it can ease the pain in the ass.

What assignment are you working on that requires you to write 15 pages on a person whose gender isn't even known?

ABEL-o-matic

Quote:

Originally posted by Katie

What assignment are you working on that requires you to write 15 pages on a person whose gender isn't even known?

I don't have any assignment as of now, but I remember having such frustration dealing with this situation when I had to do some paperwork on how Plato's "Cave Allegory" build up on the fundamentals of the essay "Three Levels of Thinking (or I think that's the actual title)". ..this can make a good thread discussion

Doc

Quote:

Originally posted by Harmonic Dreamer

You know... I never understood this rule when there could be 9 females and 1 male, then the pronoun would be ils instead of elles et ils. I guess you could use the latter but most people opt not to. Same thing when people say "Hey guys!" to a group of girls. Patriarchy at it's finest and blindest, I suppose.

Yeah, but with a language that has a masculine and feminine they, I can't really see any other way to do it.

I don't think 'guys' is the same thing though. Depending on the usage, 'guys' can be unisex.

Sunderland 4ever

I would never use 'it' to talk about a person. I would use 'they' instead.

ABEL-o-matic

"It" used on a person sounds so diminutive and belittling.

Sunderland 4ever

Quote:

Originally posted by Harmonic Dreamer

You know... I never understood this rule when there could be 9 females and 1 male, then the pronoun would be ils instead of elles et ils. I guess you could use the latter but most people opt not to. Same thing when people say "Hey guys!" to a group of girls. Patriarchy at it's finest and blindest, I suppose.

Guys can be used for both male and female. Girls is used only for female and, as far as I know, you can use girls only when the group of people is entirely composed by females.

Quote:

Originally posted by ABEL

"It" used on a person sounds so diminutive and belittling.

Making any writing look informal and disrespectful.