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Search continues for the inclusive English pronoun |
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 By James J.
Brodell
Editor emeritus of A.M. Costa Rica Activists and academics have struggled for years to make English more gender neutral. The language has far fewer feminine and masculine aspects than Spanish or other Romance languages. But over the years feminists have objected to the preferred use of the masculine gender in pronouns and possessive adjectives. That means words like her and him and hers and his. For years in the United States and other English-speaking countries there has been a mostly failed effort to adopt singular gender neutral pronouns and possessive adjectives, such as thon. The problem is that English does not have a singular gender neutral pronoun or adjective except for the non-human it. A correct English sentence could be “A lawmaker faces a choice of where to place his vote.” Never mind that many lawmakers are female. To accommodate these concerns, there is a growing trend to use the word their in place of his even though using this plural form as singular is incorrect in formal English. Canada has been more active and controversial with pronouns. That country is not restricted by the free speech clause of the U.S. Constitution. In the United States the government cannot act against speech unless the words incite or produce lawless actions. Also prohibited by other decisions are obscenity, child pornography, threats, fighting words, perjury and to some extent slander and libel. In a landmark 1969 case a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court said in the words of Justice William Brennan "The constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a state to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force or law violation except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action." That and a handful of related decisions have stymied efforts by activists to criminalize so-called hate speech or to legislate pronoun use. Not so in Canada where the latest controversy was the adoption of Bill C-16, a federal amendment to the Canadian Human Rights Act and Criminal Code. That prompted a 2016 protest by University of Toronto psychology professor Jordan Peterson, who refused to use gender neutral pronouns and adjectives. The law recognizes that everyone has the right to self-identify their gender and that misgendering is a form of discrimination, according to the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Peterson quickly became a YouTube star for his point of view that some say mischaracterizes the law. |
 A.M. Costa Rica wire services photo The
problem is that English does not have a
singular gender neutral pronoun or adjective
except for the non-human it.
Prior to passage of the bill Canada already listed as categories under hate crime laws color, race, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, sexual orientation and mental or physical disability. Now there is a trend among U.S. activists, educators and even some reporters to use the term Latinx in place of the the traditional Latino or Latina. “In addition to men and women from all racial backgrounds, Latinx also makes room for people who are trans, queer, agender, non-binary, gender non-conforming or gender fluid,” according to the Huffington Post, which now uses the term. As an example, an online news report Wednesday used the term to report that a professor would give a presentation to explore “helping Latinx youth now and in the future.” More information on Ontario Human Rights Commission can be reached on this link www.ohrc.on.ca ------ Editor's note: Brodell, founder and long-time editor of A.M. Costa Rica can be reached at jay@amcostarica.com *Link to reach the place on map. |
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