A brief summerary of the terms gender and sex will start off my essay, is you understand what both are just skip to the ***, thank you.
Sex is someones biological make up- typically xx or xy female and male (although it should be noted that even this seemingly simple distinction does not always follow suit, is someone with XXY male or female genetically? or someone with a genetica code of XYY something other than male, our vocabulary is rather limited.)
A transsexual is a person who is biologically one gender and would like to have a sex change operation and infact become the opposite of his or her biological sex.
Gender is all about sexual identitie do you feel like you are a woman even though you are a biological male? (this is know as transgendered, some transvestites- men or women that crossdress identify as transgender but not transsexual) do you think that you are neither male nor female spiritually? (this is called gender queer)
So what? Ah, I am coming to that.
***So what pronoun does one use to refer to a gender queer person? Zi is the typical choice when another gender pronoun doesn't fit. (note many transsexuals perfer their chosen gender, it varies with the individual). Although I have also read Hir it's less common and even harder in conversation.
I personally hated the pronoun Zi when I first heard it, it was so unweildy "and then I look at Zir and and Zi said..." however it grew on me, who hasn't struggled when writing formal papers either struggling with the avoidance of he/she - there is no gender neutral singular in english (usted is an example of this in spanish). This makes every statement into a political statement when gender comes up.
Everyone should wash his dishes- or the frustrating - Everyone should wash his or her dishes.
I propose we adopt Zi, as much of a bastardization of the english language as it is it serves a useful purpose.
everyone should use "zi" when zi has the opportunity!
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Good point... I wonder how "Zi" would fly with my professors. Writing "him/her," "he/she," "they," or "them," gets to be a bit much... life would be much easier if we had a widely accepted term to use when referring to a person who's sex is unknown, or doesn't matter.
Not to mention They/them is incorrect english when refering to an individual for example it seems to be a little known fact but saying
"everyONE should read their copy of the bible" is incorrect english. It should be "everyone should read his or her copy of the bible" and boy does that get old fast. Tell your professors it's a political/philosophical statement to use a gender neutral term and unless they can tell you an acceptable alternative you're going to use it from now on (do warn them in advanced so you don't get a essay covered in red ink for "typos").
or... "everyone should read the bible."
haha.
Actually the word "their" is simply possessive and does not connotate plural in any way. As in, "Someone left their books behind"
As an MtF transsexual I object quite strongly to the use of gender neutral pronouns. My gender is NOT neutral, I am quite simply a woman. On the other hand I have no issue with my friends using masculine pronouns to describe me, although few do and those that do usually correct themselves quite quickly. Most of my friends have known me since childhood and changing pronouns is actually a lot harder than it at first seems.
Whilst pronouns like Zi and Zir annoy me no end, my pet hate is some people's insistence on using "he/she" or much worse is "it" as pronouns.
:) Cathii
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Those who know everything have learned little from life.
Yes! I totally approve of Zi (or Zie) and Zir/Hir. My boyfriend is transsexual, so I keep informed about Trans issues.
What people need to keep in mind is that gender isn't decided by the society (or even the individual) it is simply expressed. When a person realizes that zi is not gender binary (male/female) zi may simply choose a gender, or decide to be an in-between. That's how you know what to call someone... you simply ask. If in doubt, use zi, but it's usually polite to ask which gender pronoun is more appropriate. It's better to recognize the presence of Transgenderism than to ignore it.
What about the combination of She and Him to make Shim? Are you going out with Shim tonight? In Swahili, the third person is all the same for males, females and animals, so it's never a problem in that language. The Zi sounds pretty good though I guess. I'll Have to give it a try.
Shim has a negative connotation... it's the equivalent of fag or dyke for trans people.
Darn! Good to Know! That could have been Quite Embarrasing learning that the hard way! Thanks!
I like it!
I think it's good to try to use gender neutral wording, but it gets kind of annoying when people try too hard to be gender neutral, cuz then it just gets awkward. I'm all for using zi (though this is the first I remember seeing or hearing the word).
whats a zir
It's a gender-neutral version of Him or Her.