Gender neutrality

A friend of a family member has decided to be gender neutral. This person has chosen a new name for friends and family to use. 

I asked a question about this friend and found myself at a loss for a pronoun. It’s awkward, at best, to use the person’s name instead, especially when it’s necessary to discuss possession. 

I recall a newspaper article by a former colleague, published after I left the paper. Liz did a great job telling a young person’s story, but to not use typical male or female pronouns, Liz used plurals. They/their. 

As a word person, it just seems wrong. Someone who is gender neutral is not a plural. This person is perhaps even more of an individual and shouldn’t be relegated to improper English. 

I asked which pronouns this friend would use. Probably plural was the answer. Yeesh. Why don’t we have pronouns for people who are gender neutral or choose to not identify as male or female?

More thought on my part led me to pronouns I would want if it were me. I liked “zhe” and “zher,” with a long e. 

My cousin gave me my “well, duh” moment when I was regaling her. “They probably do. Look it up online.”

https://www.mypronouns.org/ze-hir/#header

And there it is. (I also like it that this site makes “pronoun” a verb. I’ll write more about that another time.)

Ze/hir or ze/zir are the preferred terms, pronounced with the long e. So hir is pronounced like “here.” I like the ze/zir pronouns, but again, it’s really up to the individual as to which pronouns to use. 

Reporter Liz was just using the pronouns that particular person chose. I guess that makes it better, at least from a language standpoint.

I just really hope the z’s catch on.