By AL STOVER
Staff Reporter 

Logan's discussion emphasizes importance of gender pronouns

 

Last updated 11/19/2015 at 4:27pm



In recognition of Gender Awareness Week at Eastern Washington University, Lisa Logan, manager of the Women’s Studies Center, facilitated a discussion, Nov. 16, about the different gender pronouns, how and why they are used.

Logan explained that gender identity and expression are different things. Gender identity is how an individual sees themselves — male, female or neither — on the inside. Expression is how someone presents themselves to the world.

Logan also talked about bi-gender, which is when a person will move between identifying as a male or female depending on the context.

“Gender is socially constructed, but it’s also based on sex,” Logan said. “Some gender identities match up with the gender they are born with. Some don’t. Using the proper pronouns to address someone has to do with respect.”

Those who identify with the gender they are born with are considered gender-normative while those who do not are non-normative gender.

Logan explained “they” is becoming more common to use as a singular pronoun but there are more that have been invented and used in language. Hen, which is a Swedish pronoun, was recently included in the “Svenska Akademiens Ordlista,” the official glossary of the Swedish Academy.

“Language, like gender is always changing,” Logan said. “The change has been pretty rapid recently, which is exciting.”

Logan added that it’s important to ask someone what pronoun they would like to be addressed by.

Nick Franco, manager of the Pride Center, said he’s met students who don’t know their gender identity, making it a little difficult to ask.

“It’s a hard thing to do in that scenario so I usually don’t ask,” Franco said. “If I’m in a group of people who knows that person, they’ll let me know ‘this is the pronoun they prefer.’”

Logan said the transition is different for everyone but they would still prefer to be asked

“Asking them also lets them know you are a safe person to talk to,” Logan said.

As for when someone slips and uses the wrong pronoun, Logan said that a simple apology could make the situation a little better.

“If you have a chance to talk to that person later, ask them ‘how do you feel?’ or ‘do you feel like we need to talk about this?’” Logan said. “It’s not a bad thing to apologize quietly.”

Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.

 

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