Executive order bans gender-neutral language in Arkansas government documents
https://fayettevilleflyer.com/2023/10/20/executive-order-bans-gender-neutral-language-in-arkansas-government-documents/?Open linkView original on lemmy.world238
Comments137
It costs people nothing to use someones' preferred pronouns and yet here we are.
They do this to be cruel
They're such big meanies 😖
…
Bureaucratically maybe
What if they think men and women should be referred to by different pronouns?
I think you mean "what if the men and women think men and women should be referred to by different pronouns". Can't use "they" any more, remember.
But everyone is free to think whatever they want, so long as they don't go around telling other people how to live their lives when it's not hurting anyone.
No, you can still use they when referring to multiple people or those of unknown sex.
Might want to brush up on your English if this is news to you.
They is grammatically correct for a single person so I'm not even kind of sure what you mean here
I never said it was incorrect. The problem is forcing people to use 'they' when they'd rather use he or she.
The poster above me here is absolutely right, she shouldn't be forced to use the wrong pronouns. It might make her uncomfortable.
She sounds like a fuckin idiot if you ask me.
Yeah, nah. I grew out of that phase in elementary school.
You can call me whatever you want, I'm not some child who lets it affect me.
This is nothing but a distraction from lecterngate. Sarah Huckabee Sanders used taxpayer funds to pay for a personal trip, then had the Republican party expense a $20k podium from a company that has never sold a podium before to try to hide the embezzlement.
They really fucked up
FUCK
"Am I so out of touch? No, it's the people who fail to fit into my narrow, regressive worldview who are wrong."
I dunno, man. That’s gender-vague enough to be a problem here.
So... The Party of "small government" once again banning using language that's inclusive of all people. Disgusting...
NASA changed its nomenclature to say human space flight (as opposed to just “manned” space flight) in the 90’s, you transphobic Christian nationalist.
blame r/athiesm for stifling proper religious education /s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitions_of_fascism#Umberto_Eco
Particularly relevant: 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, and 14.
See also: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-remembers-victims-of-nazi-persecution-of-sexual-minorities/a-64533034
It is happening now, it has happened before, it will surely happen again.
So instead of using they like a normal person would, they have to use something like s/he throughout entire documents? How clunky and ugly that must be.
What were they thinking?
Oh shit, I just used the gender-neutral pronoun "they."
By “they,” I believe you mean “an unknown number of men and women.”
In this case yes, but "they" can also be all men, all women, or a single person of unknown gender.
For example: somebody called. What did they say?
The Old Testament literally doesn't contain gender neutral language, which is a large part of why this all is so messed up in the first place.
Hebrew didn't have a neutral gender.
There was no 'parent' just 'mother' or 'father.'
So a number of passages ended up super weird as a result, including the "he made them male and female" in Genesis 1 where a plural God makes humans male and female in 'his' image.
Which was the key line that's been used for millennia now to prejudice against gender nonconformity, including its being cited in the NT regarding marriage in works written just a few years after the emperor of Rome married two different men.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymological_fallacy
Edit: Expanding on this as some people seem to be confused....
The article is only about the etymology of the word:
The etymological fallacy is thinking that the etymology relates to the contemporary definition, which is what the commenter was doing in confusing the etymology of woman or man as being somehow connected to its meaning.
In general, the commenter was mistaken, as while it is true that a number of stories in the OT were likely based on earlier concepts of neutral or multiple genders (such as the example I originally gave), from the earliest Hebrew onwards there was literally no way of representing it.
So you ended up with later reinterpretation of passages with binary gender like the Genesis 1 example as having related to a hermaphroditic original man (Philio and the later Naassenes) given it was in the image of what was supposedly a singular God but rendered male and female both. Whereas what's more likely was this passage dated back to the days of a divine power couple of Yahweh and his wife which was later reworked into a monotheistic form without updating the creation of men and women in their images.
But the topic of binary gender representation in the language is fairly broadly discussed and is distinct from what the commenter is trying to represent as being similar in languages with neutral gender representations with some bizarre appeal to etymology.
I suspect it was even the driving concept in the 1st century behind the comments about "make the male and female into a single one" in the Gospel of Thomas saying 22, which ironically still elsewhere referred to the 'Father' as opposed to 'Parent.' (Aramaic was also a binary gendered language.)
When does the Bible use gender-neutral language?
The 10 Commandments, iirc.
Do ya'll think you're being clever when you say this?
Nobody has an issue with using 'they.' The problem comes from those who want to force others to use 'they' instead of 'he or she.' It's not about referring to a group of people or someone of unknown sex. It's about a vocal minority getting really upset at statements like 'only women can be pregnant.'
That would be the majority, and they're not getting upset. They're just choosing to use the language they want to use rather than letting others force them to use it.
None of your problems in life are the result of a person you know (or even a person you don't know) wanting to be referred to as 'they.'
NONE.
Okay.
I believe you have "who is doing the forcing" backwards here.
Amd now it becomes clear that "choice" isn't what you actually care about.
Nah. They're allowed to use whatever language they want.
If you have a problem with that, then you're the one doing the 'forcing.'
Something tells me you think "pregnant person" is okay but "pregnant woman" is not. I, personally, don't really care and think they can use whatever language they want.
Is it clear that I care about choice, now? What about you?
I think you are expecting too much from him.
What do you mean? Did Republicans lose the popular vote in the last 8 Arkansas elections? What elections are you talking about, specifically?
Isn't this a small vocal minority forcing people to use gendered language even if they don't want to use it?
Looks like the majority forcing a minority to use gendered language even though they don't want to.
Nobody is being forced to use "they". You can still be a disrespectful asshole if you want.
Looks like this issue stems from being forced to use gender-neutral language in government documents, but I'm not an expert on the situation.
The article doesn't say anything about anyone being forced to use gender-neutral language. The only forcing I see is the executive order from the government.
Somehow I doubt that this is really the most effective use of her time.
I think the problem is that they were forced to use gender-neutral language in the first place.
Yeah, but that's the case with most politicians.
I think you mean
"Do men and women think men and women are being clever when men and women say men and women things?"
No Men or women have an issue with using "they". The problem comes from men and women who want to force others to use "they" instead of "he or she." Men and women are not about referring to a group of Men and women or men and women of unknown sex. Men and women are talking about a vocal minority of Men and women getting really upset at statements like "only women can be pregnant."
I fixed all the gender neutral pronouns for you, now it makes much more sense.
Sorry, this man means: "This man fixed all the gender neutral men and women identifiers for the interlocutor who is either a man or a woman, now the man or woman text makes much more sense"
🥱
It's amazing the amount of effort you're willing to go through to show us you don't understand what's going on.
Gonna block you now. Tired of you people making this argument thinking it's clever.
Sorry reality bothers you so much.
I think you mean
"Men and women are amazed at the amount of effort the man in front of this man or woman is willing to go through to show men and women that the man in front of this man or woman doesn't understand the man or woman manning or womaning going on.
This man or woman is going to block this man. Tired of men and women like this man making this man's argument thinking he is clever.
Sorry reality bothers this man so much."
not the Bible but "in God we trust" is a gender-neutral pronoun.
"In God men and women trust"...?
First, that's not the Bible. Second, "we" is not "gender-neutral", it's just the standard 1st person plural
huh. TIL. what gender is it?
Not one to refer to an individual, that's for sure
Look, I know it's sophistry, but so is the EO in the OP. But the fact of the matter is
are all gender-neutral. Some of them can't logically refer to gender, true, but that doesn't make them start being gendered either.
EDIT: ANNNND many of them do refer to an individual (I, me, you...)
So this has nothing to do with the word they. This is TREF nonsense that by using words like pregnant person, the "patriarchy" is erasing women.
Not only that, but she's sneaking in some Fetal Personhood stuff by saying that "pregnant mom" is acceptable.
"Pregnant Person" specifically accounts for pregnant transMEN not Transwomen.
Reminds me of when North Carolinas own oceanic and atmospheric agency published a study on the negative effects climate change will have on their coastal towns, and what they need to do in response to that.
So their state government responded by banning the use of terms like climate change.
To conservatives, cultural war is a real issue. It's not like they care about anything else, as far as their concerned they're going to heaven one way or another. Why plan for today when you can be happy about imaginary tomorrows.
If they don't keep people fighting about who can marry who or who should have control over medical decisions, people might start fighting about things that will threaten their wealth and power.
So what they are saying is that it's perfectly fine to address every man as "her, she" incorrectly, every time. Perfect.
And if she's a child? And is she a mom while still pregnant?
I would say so, yeah. "The mother of the fetus" sounds fine. "Mother's womb." It's not like men aren't the father until it's born.
Excepting the questionable case of surrogacy, the term "pregnant mom" feels wrong to me because it's redundant.
The host of the fetus would be more appropriate as they aren't a mother until birth.
I don't even like kids, but what a gross thing to be called. Unless it's a bouncing baby cordyceps, I'm going to stick with expectant mother.
Logically, you are absolving men of fatherhood for a year? Or what are we calling them? Donor?
A fetus is not a kid.
Better not say "primigravida", they'd completely lose it.
This bullshit again. Just because it doesn't affect you directly doesn't mean it's not the right thing to do! I'll never have kids but I support maternity/paternity leave. I'm not Muslim but I want them to not be harassed in public. I don't have a vagina but think menstrual items should be universally available.
Yeah, I never said it was right or wrong.
Just that it didn't affect me.
Doesn't bother me
What opinions, exactly?
fteeze peach
https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-49754930
But really, what would Chaucer, Shakespeare and Jane Austen know about the English language?
Aren't those cases referring to individuals you don't know the gender of? Like "I saw a silhouette moving, they were going somewhere"
Sounds like the gender was known.
First one is plural, second one is refering to what I said in my previous comment
No, both are the use of the singular 'they' with gender. Read them more closely.
First one talks about mothers in general, second one refers to being a friend of someone
Yes, which is literally why many nonbinary people prefer "they" for their third person pronouns.
It's still not used for the same grammatical reasons
Did you notice that you have no problem using the gender-neutral pronoun "you" in this comment?
It's almost like this isn't something you actually care about, but just see as something to justify irrational hatred of people. That's kinda weird, lady.
I think the problem is those who have issues with the words 'he and she.'
Why waste your time trying to define someone else’s identity. Let people be themselves; it’s none of your business anyway.
Trans and nonbinary people have existed for as long as humanity has. Your perception of this "stupidity" as new is the result of people finally overcoming hundreds of years of religious programming; bigotry that has been passed down for generations as superstitious fear anyone presenting in an unfamiliar way, and people are now more willing to express themselves as they actually feel, rather than as they feel they must in order to protect themselves.
Here's a short piece of a lecture by a Stanford professor explaining how wrong you are. https://youtu.be/8QScpDGqwsQ
No, priests taking up female roles aren't trans or non-binary
Sure bro.
Ah, willful ignorance. Core tenet of conservative viewpoints in all their forms.
Lol, what?
clueless
Not really.
The real issue seems to be those who have problems with terms such as 'pregnant woman.'
The real issue is people like you
Why?
I don’t know what your gender is a a comment or, so I’m very happy to refer to you in a gender neutral way, as should be.
As an ex journalist I’ve been using a gender neutral ‘they’ to refer to hypothetical people eg: ‘the applicant should attach their passport photo’ since the 1980s. It better than the ugly ‘his/her’.
Keep in mind that yes, some non-binary people or trans folk do go to see a therapist - and the result is they come out being happy as non-binary or trans.
Really, this isn’t the most important thing in the world. It’s just courteous to refer to people im the way that they like to be referred. Courtesy is good, yes?
Well, that's because you don't know or don't care about the gender of the applicant, not because that applicant is non-binary
And that changes anything about this because...?
Because they're totally different uses of gender-neutral language
OK, let's go with that. Can you please help me understand what problem is created for you by someone being non-binary and wishing to be referred to as they?
I understand that problem #1 is you are being asked to be respectful to someone you disagree with, but if we can get past that...?
I'd use "they/them" pronouns if I'm asked to out of respect to another human being, but that won't make me stop thinking that usage is bs
So, no actual problem.
(You are of course, welcome to think whatever you want. I'd be in big trouble every time I was behind someone with a Trump sticker on their car if this wasn't the case.)
I don’t actually care about the gender of the applicant, except in very special cases.
Bro this and that has literally nothing to do with each other. "They" has been used for when you don't know the person's gender since the 15th century.
How long has he and she been used when you do know the person's gender?
Oh so you just want something to be angry about. Yeah go do that somewhere else.
Uhh, what?
Looks like the people who have problems with 'he and she' are the ones who want something to be angry about.
Not one problem in your life is the result of a person you know (or even a person you don't know) wanting to be referred to as 'they.'
Not one.
Edit: LOL of course it was [email protected] - so I guess you do have some problem that someone else's pronouns have caused for you?
Blocking someone won't change anything, it's just hiding your head under the sand and pretending it's not real
I will get blocked for this, but had to say that the guy will keep thinking the way he does. In fact, he will probably become more radical
Definitely not my problem, but yours
I've found America is pretty much the only nation where ideas like these have gotten hold.
The rest of the word recognizes it for what it is and just decides to steer clear.
Wdym "these" ideas? America is probably the most "gender-neutral" obsessed country in the entire globe
Yes, that's what I mean.
Other nations recognize the differences between men and women without debate.
Care to name a few of those nations that "recognize the differences between men and women without debate" ?
Mexico and Japan are the first nations that come to mind that white people would respect.
Other than that, pretty much every non-white nation.
Wow you're actually just stupid. Don't forget it. I think you already know.
Is this how you always react when faced with information you don't like?