Preferred pronouns

"I don't use pronouns!" said the Strawman.

"I, is a pronoun," I retorted.

"That doesn't count!"

"That, is also a pronoun."

A pronoun is a word that is used to replace a noun to avoid repetition. What the Strawman means is that he (I invented him, I get to pronoun him) doesn't respect a person changing their pronouns. Why though?

Most of the arguments I can find against pronouns seem to target the they/them designation, which I can't really speak to. Religious people say that gender is binary, because of the whole Adam and Eve thing. They also say that intersex people are broken, which is just hateful rhetoric that lacks reason. Matthew 12:19 "For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." See, I can quote the Bible too.

I once sat in a class where I was told that the world was 6,000 years old, but God created everything with age. That's impractical and would make God seem insane. It's not even in the Bible. They came up with it by doing math for the genealogy of the Bible, assuming the seven days to create earth were literally 24-hour days. I believe in God, but you aren't supposed to take it all literally. Humans are dumb, I can't argue against nonsense, so back to my story.

I've known people that I would have considered my friends that would on occasion mess up my pronouns. Excuses of I've known you for so long that way that it will take time. Understandable to a certain extent. I had a situation occur where I was talking to a guy and a girl that knew I was trans came up and misgendered me just to make me look bad, when I wasn't even trying to engage with the guy in that kind of way. I'm not ashamed of being trans, and it didn't change how he treated me, but it was gross of her. She was a Bible thumper, although I know she never read it.

When I meet new people nowadays, they usually get my pronouns correct unless they have extensive experience with trans people, usually secretly, or I'm having an off day. Normally, after I correct them, they respect it, but occasionally they still struggle, which tells me they aren't using my correct pronouns when I'm not around. That's how thought patterns work. Wink wink.

I've personally messed up the pronouns of a crossdresser I met when they were dressed masculine. They didn't mind, but I get how it can be confusing at times. It's still disrespectful to call someone by pronouns beyond their choosing. It's better for their psychological health to respect the pronouns they choose. I don't respect you if you won't even try. I don't care if you came from a different time. You lived up and until this point, so you should be an adult.

So, what kinds of pronouns can we expect, she/her, he/him, they/them, ze/zir (never met this one). Sometimes it's a combo meal of she/her/they, he/him/they, or any. I think that "any's" just get called by their assigned pronouns normally, so mix it up for them. They will appreciate it, and likely think of you as someone that has more than two brain cells.

"Help, someone I care about wants to change their pronouns, but I keep messing it up. What do I do?" said the Strawman.

"Refer to them by their chosen pronouns, even when they aren't around, even when you think of them, even correct others when they make the same mistake, eventually you will no longer mess it up," I said.

"Thanks," the Strawman said, "are you God?"

"To you yes, but in all other cases no."

The misuse of pronouns can sometimes be an honest mistake, but I have experienced it by people just trying to be disrespectful. That isn't nice, and you wouldn't like your pronouns being used incorrectly. If you do, I have some news for you. You may just be an egg that has yet to crack. Come back in three years, you'll get it by then.

Being respectful to one another is the bare minimum when it comes to communicating with each other. You won't get your point across unless your point is simply to make the other person suffer. Which makes you an awful person. Don't be an awful person. The world sucks enough without having to deal with whatever baggage you need to offload. I'm not asking for laws to be made around this, so it's not a free speech thing. I'm just asking you to be a decent person. Love ya!