Some
months ago, an acquaintance stopped talking to me after I congratulated them on
completing a difficult project. I didn’t even know this person was upset with
me. So, when they stopped taking my calls or replying to messages, I got a hold
of their family. I was concerned, you see. Their sister finally called me, and she said
that they had stopped talking to me because I addressed them as “he”.
As
you might be imagining, I was confused (and
slightly hurt). So, since I am a true believer in the power of
communication, I facetimed the person to let them know that I was sorry I
offended them by calling them “he”. And that they should also acknowledge that
I couldn’t know something I was never told. After some virtual glaring (and the exchange of phrases like ‘I’m sure I told you’ and ‘I’m
certain you didn’t’), they apologized for not being clear with me and said I could
address them as “them”, “their”, “they”. And after that, all was well.
Then,
I met someone who said that I should address ze as “ze”, “hir”, “hirs”. I was not
confused this time around, but I can’t deny that I felt (and still feel) sort of out of my element (and slightly oldish) in the evolving world of non-binary pronouns.
Still, I’m excited to live in a time of language evolution and revolution. What
about you, my dear Poets and Storytellers, are you finding the changes easy or
challenging?
Now,
let us open our 65th Writers’ Pantry! We welcome poetry or prose that
is old or new, fiction or nonfiction that is jolly or gloomy. Let your
contributions be short or longish (if you choose to delight
us with prose, then the word count should be 369 words or fewer). One link per
participant, please. This prompt shall stay open for a week. More than enough
time to write and read and alchemy our thoughts into comments.
- for our next Weekly Scribblings, Rommy says that it “is all for the birds”. Your bird (or birds) can be real or imaginary, literal or metaphorical (they can even be crows, crows can be anything they want). And Rommy welcomes old pieces that have been significantly rewritten.
borrowed from “How Young People Are Redefining “Transgender” and “Nonbinary”, by Rory Gory
