• PugJesus@lemmy.worldOPM
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      1 day ago

      They/them is not used exclusively to refer to neuter things, so enbies not being gender neutral is irrelevant here. ‘They’ is a useful and pre-existing catch-all.

        • PugJesus@lemmy.worldOPM
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          22 hours ago

          … why?

          Is that any more absurd than “reducing males to he/him” or “reducing females to she/her”?

          It’s language, not a campaign medal. You don’t need a separate example for every instance.

          • SomeoneSomewhere@lemmy.nz
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            15 hours ago

            The whole point of pronouns, I would argue, is to not need a separate set for every instance.

            Otherwise you may as well just use Dan/Dan/Dan’s/Danself conjugated for each name.

            Pronouns:

            • Are (generally) shorter than names, because there’s less need for them to be unique and they’re used more frequently.

            • Can be used even when you don’t know specifics about a person or object, or they don’t want to give out their name.

            • Everyone knows how to conjugate them, so once you know someone is a ‘they’, you can readily extrapolate to them, their, theirs.

    • FoxyFerengi@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 day ago

      Non-binary is a broad spectrum of identity. What you’re suggesting only works for identities like genderfluid or demi-gender people.

      I’m agender, which exists outside of the male-female binary (in which you are either one or the other). Agender and it’s derivatives, like gendervoid, are completely gender neutral. I only use they/them because it’s really difficult for the average person to not use a pronoun when referring to me, I very much prefer people using my name in place of one.