I think Ra's description of what can cause homosexuality is deeply biased by the preconceived notions of a 60-something year old retired military pilot who was living in Kentucky in the 1980s.
"They" is not only plural, "they" can also be used in the singular and be grammatically proper. I have absolutely no problem using it this way and find myself referring to people as "they" in the third person singular more often. I know there are people who do prefer he/she, but I don't think they would be hurt or offended by being referred to as "they" in third person - and if I found out they were, I would gladly oblige. Something that the activist groups I've participated in do often is have people introduce themselves and share their preferred pronouns, since it's pretty common to be ambiguous. It's a way to be intentionally inclusive, which I find helps create what I suppose is considered a "safe space", which is often used derisively but I think it is an important thing to have. As we develop a social memory complex, we have to learn how to create "safe spaces" - when we all have access to each other's thoughts, we'll learn very quickly which things hurt and are best left unthought/unsaid and how people prefer to be approached and treated, etc. And when there is no barrier between us, the pain of another belongs to us as well. It's definitely a balance between self expression and taking responsibility with our words and not hurting others.
Nobody has to change for the comfort of others. I think a lot of things that we find is distasteful about certain groups actually come from a reaction to feeling as if they do have to change for others - and doing precisely the opposite to spite the obligation. So it's a delicate balance with not being judgemental but still bringing awareness to how to be more compassionate. I can tell you that I'm not aware of any of my friends who do it in a judgy way at all - or who would ever correct someone for using the incorrect pronoun in the moment. It's more of a longterm awareness campaign. I don't know, I'm cool with learning how to be more intentional with my language - like not using "it" to refer to animals, or other speciesist language that objectifies them. I've really found a it to be a pretty profound shift - it's even more difficult to say swear words. It's like they hit a wall coming out and instead I say some weird Ned Flandersism. "Guys" is the bane of my vernacular, however, from being a waitress for 12 years. It's gonna take a minute to get rid of that one.
Diana Wrote:That's because "they" is plural and "he or she" is singular. I've seen a chart of pronouns proposed for universities. It's just too complicated. Perhaps someone will come up with a simple, elegant way to evolve our use of language when referring to gender. This will probably happen at the same time we become telepathic. I find that we often get what we want when we don't need it anymore.
"They" is not only plural, "they" can also be used in the singular and be grammatically proper. I have absolutely no problem using it this way and find myself referring to people as "they" in the third person singular more often. I know there are people who do prefer he/she, but I don't think they would be hurt or offended by being referred to as "they" in third person - and if I found out they were, I would gladly oblige. Something that the activist groups I've participated in do often is have people introduce themselves and share their preferred pronouns, since it's pretty common to be ambiguous. It's a way to be intentionally inclusive, which I find helps create what I suppose is considered a "safe space", which is often used derisively but I think it is an important thing to have. As we develop a social memory complex, we have to learn how to create "safe spaces" - when we all have access to each other's thoughts, we'll learn very quickly which things hurt and are best left unthought/unsaid and how people prefer to be approached and treated, etc. And when there is no barrier between us, the pain of another belongs to us as well. It's definitely a balance between self expression and taking responsibility with our words and not hurting others.
Aion Wrote:Basically, my thought is, why should anyone have to change for the comfort of others?
Nobody has to change for the comfort of others. I think a lot of things that we find is distasteful about certain groups actually come from a reaction to feeling as if they do have to change for others - and doing precisely the opposite to spite the obligation. So it's a delicate balance with not being judgemental but still bringing awareness to how to be more compassionate. I can tell you that I'm not aware of any of my friends who do it in a judgy way at all - or who would ever correct someone for using the incorrect pronoun in the moment. It's more of a longterm awareness campaign. I don't know, I'm cool with learning how to be more intentional with my language - like not using "it" to refer to animals, or other speciesist language that objectifies them. I've really found a it to be a pretty profound shift - it's even more difficult to say swear words. It's like they hit a wall coming out and instead I say some weird Ned Flandersism. "Guys" is the bane of my vernacular, however, from being a waitress for 12 years. It's gonna take a minute to get rid of that one.
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