I have a question about the pronouns in profiles. I hope it wonât be perceived as transphobic, thatâs not my intention. Iâm not a native English speaker, so perhaps thatâs where my misunderstanding (and possibly awkward turn of phrases) comes from.
Why specify the object pronoun when the subject pronoun is given?
For example, why display [she/her], and not just [she]?
Shouldnât the slash be reserved for people who recognize themselves in more than one gender, like [she/they]?
To the best of my knowledge, the convention is based on history. In previous decades, neo-pronouns like xe were proposed to serve as gender-neutral alternatives to he and she, and since they were new coinages, they didnât have commonly known objective and possessive forms, so all three forms where listed.
The pattern was so established that it carried over to he, she and they even though their declined forms are commonly known.
And now this is also just how we communicate that the speaker is stating their own pronouns. If I put âPseu heâ as my username, thereâs a high chance of confusion. If I put âPseu he/himâ as my username, itâs obvious what Iâm trying to say.
I think some of it is sort of to make people with more than one pronoun, or neopronouns, stand out less or feel less like an âotheredâ group.
If people with ââââânormalâââââ pronoun usage just list their pronoun as âsheâ and anyone who uses multiple has to list âshe/theyâ or someone who uses neopronouns needs to list âve/vir/virsâ, this can make those parties feel more âotherâ, perhaps. If everyone is listing multiple pronouns, even if theyâre sort of repeating themselves, then it levels the playing field and makes things more inclusive. Just a thought.
The other thing that comes to mind is that some people might be cool with âsheâ but not with âherâ. By specifying âshe/herâ youâre explicitly telling people youâre cool with it all.
At the end of the day the extra 4 or 5 characters isnât particularly high effort or high cost, and it seems to be what people run with for whatever reason they do - so I guess thatâs just how it be!
idk about the actual reason, but itâs easier for me to recognise that someone is specifying pronouns when itâs âshe/herâ instead of just âsheâ
To me, itâs an extension of spoken language. Itâd sound a bit off and maybe actually have different connotation to say âI use heâ instead of âI use he/himâ.
So yeah, I think itâs to reduce confusion because outside of presenting your pronouns, two pronouns are unlikely?
Itâs redundant, thatâs just how people do it.
