Saturday, June 2, 2018

"Mis-gendering"

         Susan Knoppow (Blogger and CEO of Wow Writing Workshop!) began her article by saying of her daughter Miriam, "When someone tells me, 'I’ll just call Miriam ‘she’ because that’s what I’m used to,' they are passing judgment on my child. They are saying, 'My comfort is more important than your child’s comfort.'" No, they are stating a scientific fact. They are refusing to play semantic games. They are declining to ignore reality.
The science is always "settled" when it supposedly supports something a progressive wishes to believe, such as the existence of man-caused global-warming. Yet, demonstrable scientific facts such as a baby in a mother's womb...being a baby... or that there are not actually 63 different genders are denied as so much right-wing bigotry.
Ms. Knoppow, whose article first appeared in The Detroit Free Press and later in The USA Today, went on to say, "When someone I haven’t seen for months asks, 'How’s Miriam?' I say, 'They’re fine, thanks.'"
She recalls the time, shortly after her daughter had returned from a weekend with her youth group, that she informed her mom that gender existed on a spectrum. How 'bout those youth groups?! She claims she told Miriam, “No, sweetheart. Sexuality is on a spectrum; you can be straight, gay or lots of things in between. Gender is either male or female.” To which, she added, "Miriam corrected me. 'No, mom. Gender is on a spectrum, too.'"
  Knoppow recounts how they thought they were raising a daughter until that daughter, upon completing  high school, "Told me they were neither female or male, and that I should switch to 'they/them/their' pronouns when referring to them in the third person."
The Wow CEO gallantly informs us:  "People who are non-binary use a variety of pronouns, but they/them/their are the most common today. The English language is still figuring this one out. My child (and many other non-binary folks) use they instead of she or he, them instead of her or him, and their instead of hers or his." Ah, I see, it's the English language that's a bit slow on the uptake.
  She continues: "The pronouns we use reflect our level of respect for the person we are speaking with or about.  Being mis-gendered — or mistaken for the wrong gender — stings. Hearing 'she/her/hers' instead of 'they/them/theirs' causes my child pain." Using inaccurate or made up pronouns or genders does not afford respect to a person, quite the opposite. And, being coerced into butchering the language causes me pain, lady. (Hope I'm not mis-gendering).
Knoppow proudly avers she is doing everything she can "to expand the universe in which my child and other non-binary people can feel comfortable." Mission accomplished. That "universe" is expanding at a greater rate than the actual one. Insurance companies, sports teams, large corporations, school systems, churches, media conglomerates and almost ever other known entity are welcoming the LGBTQIA "communities" and prclaiming "Pride" days, weeks, months, events, etc., etc. Bathrooms and lockerrooms around the country are opening to anyone who professes to be of any given gender at the time of use.
At one point, Ms. Knoppow {I apologize, I don't know her ("they?") preferred pronouns} declares, "If I deny their reality, I will be shutting that door." There is no such thing as "their reality." Or "her reality." If there were, there would be no reality, proving her/they wrong anyway, and rending everything random and meaningless.
If gender is a "spectrum" between male and female, what about those who claim to be neither male nor female, or who purport to be "anongenders?" Moreover, if there can be more than two sexes, I say there is only one sex. That is my reality. Although, if that were the case, we'd be f--ked as a species. F--ked yet childless.
To those who say addressing an individual with a plural pronoun like "they" is ridiculous, Knoppow says, "Language is always evolving. You'll get used to it." Word up. That's dank, Susan. And this after she states "language matters." But, language is robbed of meaning when its words and symbols don't represent anything concrete or constant.
The broad-minded blogger finished by affirming: "I love my child. They are exactly the same artsy, sensitive, insightful person they have always been..," with the "...same funky sense of style."

She thinks she's enlightened. I think she's delusional. I guess it's just a classic case of "they said, they said."

Using the new rules for (transgendered) pronoun usage, I rewrote a popular Billy Joel song of some years ago. Enjoy.

They's Always A Being To Me-- Billy Joel

They can kill with a smile, they can wound with them eyes
They can ruin your faith with them casual lies
And they only reveals what they wants you to see
They hides like a child, but they's always a non-binary to me
They can lead you to love, they can take you or leave you
They can ask for the truth, but they'll never believe
And they'll take what you give them, as long it's free
Yeah, they steals like a thief, but they's always a person to me
Ohhh...they takes care of themself
They can wait if they wants, they's ahead of them time
Ohhh...and they never gives out
And they never gives in, they just changes them mind
And they'll promise you more than the Garden of Eden
Then they'll carelessly cut you and laugh while you're bleeding
But they'll bring out the best and the worst you can be
Blame it all on yourself 'cause they's always a human to me
Ohhh...they takes care of themself
They can wait if they wants, they's ahead of them time
Ohhh...and they never gives out
And they never gives in, they just changes them mind
They's frequently kind and they's suddenly cruel
They can do as they pleases, they's nobody's fool
And they can't be convicted, they's earned them degree
And the most they will do is throw shadows at you
But they's always a being to me

They's not half the person they used to be.

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