Editorial – ‘Notes on Grammar: Gender Neutral Pronouns’, The Visual Artists’ News Sheet, July/Aug 2023.

JOANNE LAWS OUTLINES THE CONVERSATION SURROUNDING GENDER-NEUTRAL PRONOUNS.

To my surprise, the general public suddenly seems to care intensely about grammar. As an editor, I can confirm that the average person is not especially committed to the nuances and particularities of the English language; yet these things are currently being hotly debated in the media.

The language we use is important, particularly in relation to identity, since language is fundamental in shaping cultural expectations and perceptions of ourselves. The growing recognition of gender diversity¹ is increasingly framing the usage of gendered pronouns(such as ‘he’ or ‘she’) as exclusionary, in certain contexts.²  

It’s worth emphasising that this pertains specifically to the English language, since there are many widely spoken languages that contain no gendered pronouns. In English, conventional pronouns have the effect of assigning a binary identity,³ which excludes nonbinary people.⁴ It is also important to stress that this critical debate does not hinge on eliminating feminine or masculine pronouns, but on normalising the use of at least one gender-neutral pronoun ⁵– namely, the ‘singular they’.⁶   

My own learning on this subject began around six years ago, when a group of artists were writing an article for VAN. One of the artists referred to themselves as ‘they’ – which at first felt unusual, slightly cumbersome, and to my mind, grammatically incorrect. After an informative conversation with the artists (as well as some research, courtesy of The Oxford Compendium of English), I proceeded with the article using ‘they’ as a singular pronoun, while committing to learning more about the convention.

Certainly, the ‘singular they’ has been around for centuries and is widely used today in everyday conversation, as in: “Someone left their bike outside.” It is commonly used in situations where a person’s identity is not known. However, more pressing is its use in scenarios where a person does not wish to specify or disclose their gender, or actively states their preference for nonbinary pronouns.

We can see how historical resistance to the evolution of language might act as a cipher for some thinly-veiled moral code – one that serves to uphold societal order, lest it be plunged into existential chaos by syntax. For example, the usage of Ms – as opposed to Miss (used to denote a girl) or Mrs (referring to a married woman) – extends back to the seventeenth century, but it was revived and popularised in the twentieth century in response to a perceived need in the English language for a more general term, untethered to a woman’s domestic situation. Nevertheless, Ms was contested well into the twenty-first century, by those who felt it was variously bland, problematic, or even, as described by one Tory MP, “political correctness gone mad.” Nowadays, Ms has become so normalised that many publication style guides stipulate its default use, unless the subject has expressed a specific preference for Miss or Mrs.

In the semantics of this debate, my own particular position is that I use gender-neutral singular pronouns and related adjectives out of respect for those who prefer it, but I acknowledge that its usage can lack linguistic precision or clarity in certain circumstances. [As a side note, many have argued that this perceived deficit requires the invention of a completely new non-gendered singular pronoun, and some have accordingly proposed suitable remedies; however, ‘they’ has gained the most traction, due to its historical precedence]. Often, I will seek alternative solutions, such as reconfiguring a sentence, where appropriate, to avoid the need for pronouns at all.

Crucially, there is a need to balance any pragmatic difficulties of using the singular they against what is at stake in the refusal to employ inclusive language. This may include actively or inadvertently aligning with homophobic and transphobic right-wing factions that are fuelling hostility and violence against already marginalised and othered communities. Research suggests that using non-gendered pronouns actually helps to reduce unconscious bias and gender stereotyping, while also enhancing positivity towards women and the LGBT+ community.⁷ Moving the conversation beyond whether or not gender-neutral pronouns are ‘legitimate’, to one of solidarity and empathy, is a small but proactive step in creating a more inclusive and accepting society.  

Joanne Laws is Editor of The Visual Artists’ News Sheet.

Featured Image: NCAD FIELD as ‘taskscape’, Hempcrete structure by Helen McLoughlin; photograph © and courtesy Gareth Kennedy.

¹ Gender diversity describes gender identities beyond the Western binary framework of male and female. Many indigenous communities recognise multiple gender identities and societal roles, which are not assigned according to biological sex. This was commonplace in pre-colonial tribal communities.

² Gendered or gender-specific pronouns reference someone’s gender: he/him/his or she/her/hers.

³ Binary identity refers to the classification of gender into two distinct, opposite forms of masculine and feminine.

⁴ Nonbinary describes genders that don’t fall into the categories of male or female.

⁵ Non-gendered, gender-neutral, or nonbinary pronouns are not gender-specific.

⁶ The singular they is officially listed in the Merriam-Webster and Oxford dictionaries as a singular pronoun.

⁷ Margit Tavits and Efrén O. Pérez, ‘Language influences mass opinion toward gender and LGBT equality’, PNAS, August 2019, Vol. 116, No. 34.