During lunch hour at my high school, this afternoon, I went to a Film Club meeting to discuss an upcoming film competition between students in my city. We spoke to each other for a while before realising that none of us had introduced ourselves properly. We went around the circle of members, giving our names and our experience in movie making. When it came to the third person in the circle to be introduced, she said, "My name is Louisa. My pronoun is 'they.'"

"Pardon me?" another member asked.

"When you talk about me, instead of using 'she', please use 'they.'"

...

Of course in the moment, we all accepted her request. But... Excuse my ignorance, but I've never before come across a person asking to be referred to in this way. My first thought was, that's a tall order for a stranger! But if this person is really, truly genderless, then I would like to think I'd be the kind of person who would oblige that kind of request. On the other hand, if this is some ultra-ultra-liberal mumbo jumbo then I'm not sure if I really want to bother. I mean, if someone really felt they were a Sith lord, and they asked me to address them as Lord Vader, then I would need to have a lot of sympathy for this person if I was going to call them something like that. Or more closely related, if one of my peers told me not to mention Richard Dawkins in front of him because he felt that Dawkins was the devil, and told me that I must refer to him as Satan, instead... First of all, I'm used to calling him Richard Dawkins, and changing that would take some effort. Second of all, I have no sympathy for such a request. I cannot understand why that request would have to be made.

Why do you people think this person wanted to be spoken of in this way? Have you come across it before? Do you know anyone like this personally, and if so then why do they ask this? I've never heard of such a thing in my life! They want me to talk of them like this!

I would've asked for more clarification. Then promptly ignored the absurd request.

Eh, gender is a more complicated concept than people give it credit for. I think it's ridiculous to equate "doesn't fit into Gender Binary" with being convinced you're a Sith Lord.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genderqueer

'they' is plural though, so really she should be called 'it'

But she probably wouldn't like that either she's not multiple persons..

This. Very much so this.

Gender, philosophically, is an abstract concept and based on perception and, depending on who you ask, a matter of nature and nurturing. Personally, I don't see why we'd say 'they' given that they is a plural which would be the girl in question meaning they are more person than one, which may be Schizophrenia, but if she were perceiving herself as genderless she'd be an 'it', not 'they'. There's a reason we refer to computer or a door as its, they have no gender pronouns attached to them. If a person with a [censored] wants to be referred to as she and a person with a [censored] a he, it is because the male has perceived their gender as female and vice versa, even though their six is male and female.

Anyway, I've never heard of any particular orientation requiring a 'they' to it unless you're referring to two or more people, which again goes back to plurals, not orientation. So who knows, maybe she's just one of those odd girls in your school who do odd things to differentiate themselves in an attempt to establish a unique identity. Who knows.

Edit: Scientific terms for the male and female anatomy are censored? Really? Come on. :/

I like to think that I'm a very open-minded person and I consider myself to be very sensitive when it comes to gender issues, sixual orientation, etc. However, at some point asking others (especially strangers) to adjust core aspects of their language/culture to fit personal preferences seems a bit...self-important. Maybe "they" just wants to feel extra-special...? I think I'd just forgo pronouns and refer to "they" by "they's" first name.

I hear people use 'they' in a gender-neutral sense pretty regularly (i.e. when someone's gender is unclear), so I don't think that should be a problem. I think 'it' is generally viewed as somewhat dehumanizing, which should be pretty understandable.

True, but grammatically it's incorrect since they is plural. I mean I just say he or she, they sounds like you're assuming the person has more than one personality active. 'It' may be seen as dehumanizing by some, but it's the more accurate term. There's no need to butcher the English language further (Granted it's done every day, but still.) by turning they into both a plural AND gender indicator when it's incorrectly implying more than one being. They might see themselves as genderless or of both genders, but to say 'they' is still wrong because it's still one human being.

Language changes. By the standards of the past, we're speaking butchered English right now. If 'they' works as a gender-neutral pronoun, than I don't see why that should be a problem. Some people use made-up pronouns, which annoys a lot of people, but it seems like a good idea to me, since it more or less resolves the language issue all-together.

Some grammar/diction authorities acknowledge "they" as having uses as a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they.

My name is Ellert, my species is screwdrivers. People say I was born a human but I object to that, I feel like screwdrivers and that's what I've decided I am. Also don't you dare call me a screwdriver, I'm not just some thing, it's "screwdrivers".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they, at least if you want to take the Merriam Webster's Dictionary of English Usage as your guide.

"Decide." "Psychological problems."

Oh bahahaha, that was a good one. Now seriously, when was the last time you researched this? 1955? 1970?

Probably just be easier to never acknowledge they live....

When NPCs interact with player then never say your name or six as there may be multiple sibilings hanging off some part like in basket case

Yes, but that logic creates a frustratingly whole new issue. Because then I'll need to refer to ever person who looks to be a man or woman as they which is just dumb. they singular is for an unknown variable as in 'anonymous r*pe victim', that is a they. In that respect it's acceptable, but a singular person as a they under no grounds other than 'because I say so'. It's like me getting angry when no one calls me 'Princess Sparklemuffins' or 'His Royal Highness when I am referred to by anyone on this forum. I'm quite fine with gender pronouns being applied appropriately, but in this case it makes no sense since it's saying their gender is unknown which is, in this case sort of true since the girl never told us, but she knows her gender identity full well so it is not unknown to her.

You are confusing gender identity with biology. They are NOT the same. The person's gender identity - what gender, if any, they identify as - is not always based on physical characteristics, let alone stereotypes of what makes a "man" and a "woman".

Well, strictly speaking they are (from a materialist perspective, that is). Perhaps "confusing gender identity with six" is a more accurate statement.

Biology does not always equate to an individual's gender identity. A person may possess male anatomy, thus being biologically male, but have a gender identity of female, or no gender identity.

I'm not suggesting that referring to people in this way isn't confusing. Most modern languages operate (in practice) on the assumption that people are either masculine or feminine. Of course, that could be changed...it's just a matter of getting people used to it. I don't think I'd ask people to step over my pronoun preferences upon first introduction is all.

Just saying that using "they" to refer to a singular entity isn't incorrect or new.

No, it's not that. I understand gender identity, I just don't see the use of 'they' being appropriate. I mean, you could use 'they' as a referring to being male or female genderwise, but you can't just make up your own genders, that kind of makes no sense. I mean, you COULD make your own genders up maybe, but I don't think it'd be seen as legitimate by most peoples. There's more to what makes a man or woman than feminine and masculine gender roles, those are just cornerstones which can be crossed by both men and women. IE a muscled construction woman or an emotional and delicate male poet. But what I'm stuck on is the use of they since it implies an unknown variable which is throwing off my understanding of by what logic can one person be a they?

Since you started off your thread with the high school film club, I thought this would be about everyone's favorite mutant ant movie.

Me too.

Don't get me wrong, not saying it doesn't exist that people think differently of themselves than they are in reality. I know a person with anorexia doesn't "decide" that they are fat, they just see themselves as that no matter how bony they are, and that is a psychological problem, and there is nothing wrong with that, not their fault. But I won't have any fluff on the wording here. Really would you feel it was the right answer to say "Yes okay, you are fat." to a girl with anorexia who came up to you and told you that she was fat? No, you probably wouldn't. In the same way I wouldn't expect most people to sit there and go "oh yeah you are they" to some girl going to them saying she is "they". (Yes, before you mention it, I see the difference as anorexia is more serious and telling someone with anorexia that they are fat could have some serious consequences linked to it, I only used this as a quick example.)

What I can't understand is the people with the ability to recognize which gender they were born as, yet get offended at, and insist people call them something else. You may feel as strongly about your gender as you want, and you can wish you were something else, but you can't make demands that people use improper terms to describe you.

And why not? Because you are caught up on "they" being often used in the plural form? First, there are a number of very influential writers who used "they" as singular, such as Shakespeare, Austen, Chaucer, Wilde, and Carroll. Secondly, language changes over time based upon how people choose to use it.

And you just basically wrote off intersix individuals and transgendered people. Nice. How about you flip that around? What if everyone called you the opposite gender to what you feel you are? I imagine you would get very frustrated with that, very quickly, since they would be denying your self-identity.