Grammar and Gender Identity
Hello all!
I'm very interested in the study of language and also the study of psychology. I am fluent in Italian, with many years of mastery and I am pursuing a degree in psychology, and eventually a PhD.
But there's an interesting issue that bothers me. It has to do with ambiguous gender identity and the conventions of non-English grammar. I am thinking mostly of Italian, in which we have masculine gender and feminine gender and no neutral group. Anything, be it an object for example, that is of unknown gender or unspecified, is automatically assigned masculine pronouns. If one does not know the gender of a cat on the street, then it is referred to with masculine declinations and pronouns. I wonder if this structure creates any problems for those who are of androgynous leanings, or prefer to be identified as neither male nor female.
Any information or input on this subject is valued!
Thanks for reading.
RaymondT
@RaymondT
Recently I have started to try and not use traditional pronouns. When I talk about someone or an animal, I try and say "That driver is going to fast" Or "Wow, look at them go." It can be a mouthful if not worded properly, but I've come to changing my speech patterns when using the word 'they'.
Until I am told their pronouns, I will simply address them by their name.
