Guess I needed to wait 10 min to reply but they erased my post.
I’m very grateful for all the thoughtful answers and want them to keep coming.
I can definitely understand that some of our language is being changed to promote cultural standards that maybe are not acceptable to all of us. We’ve definitely gone through the “politically correct” stuff over 25 years ago. Some language stayed, some went. Feel free to start a new thread! I’ll post in that too.
I would like to know why seemingly (maybe it’s just a media thing) so many kids are questioning their gender NOW to begin with? Did it start in media? schools?
Truly–growing up everyone thought about “what if I were a boy/girl? How would life be?”. Better/worse? That was part of life–but certainly not life altering.
Or perhaps it is merely somewhat more acceptable (depending on one’s family and social environment) these days to talk about it (as opposed to staying “in the closet” about it).
From what I can find, the actual percentage of those who do not see themselves in gender-traditional terms is under 3% (and 0.7% or less for transgender). Of course, not all such people will care that much about non-traditional pronouns.
I think a large part of it is because of the recent representation of nonbinary identities in online culture. this is not to say that media and internet has changed their gender. rather, more young people are considering gender in a new light rather than just male and female. young people are more at liberty to experiment with labels and appearances now, and more people are actually coming out and openly identifying as these nonbinary identities because of this more open mindset.
The number of children, teens, and young adults committing suicide is much too high.
If using a pronoun helps someone else feel more accepted, I will use it as my way of showing them I value their life so hopefully, they are less likely to end theirs.
I sometimes think that within the framework of a transgender’s world they would assume the transition to using non binary pronouns would be pretty easy. They are in constant interaction with one another and would be very aware and sensitive to it. To many of us who don’t knowingly interact with transgender people very often, using non binary language it’s a bit like turning a cruise ship in a bath tub. It’s going to take time and patience. It took awhile for many to get comfortable using Ms. a few decades back. I did appreciate it because it made it easier to start letters when you didn’t know the marital status of a women and I still had many married women offended by it. I suppose now we’d just forgo any assumption and just address the letter to them by name. Few intend to offend but offense is often controlled by the person being spoken to. Telling someone who is not used to the usage a few times is unlikely to change their behavior. They are probably not doing anything to offend it is merely a linguistic habit.
It is an interesting experience the first time to hear individuals introduce themselves and include pronouns! But after the second time and the third time its not so jarring anymore. And by the way gender identity is an important part of your identity, as seen in your username!
I have appreciated your posts too and for sharing in detail all the different ways and places you feel comfortable about your choices. BTW we’ve always had a handful of younger people who participate in the parent discussions and they are very welcome. It’s good to get your point of view.
