Thought Portal

In 2012, a children’s book in Sweden sparked a nationwide debate— not about the book’s content but a three-letter word used by the main character. Hen was a relatively new, gender-neutral pronoun which challenged Swedish grammar norms. The use of hen tapped into a conversation the country was already having about gender and equality. Can the introduction of one word make a difference in changing societal views? Nina Porzucki goes to Sweden to find out.

Photo by Nina Porzucki. Music by Blue Dot Sessions and Podington Bear. Read a transcript of this episode here.

Strangers have contacted me online to complain about how hard it is to use my preferred pronouns, or even to see them in a byline. These are people who would go out of their way to open the door for me if I were a woman, or would thank me profusely if I offered them a cookie. Arguably these bits of etiquette performance are more arduous than using the word “they.” Perhaps these complainers don’t understand that pronouns are a matter of politeness rather than politics.

Humans are always inventing new ways to hurt each other, but we invent new forms of respect too. I am glad to live in a time when my gender is visible and explainable without reference to postmodern gender theory. Even better, there’s a way for people to talk about my gender without using insults. They can simply be polite. And in return, I will pay them the respect they deserve.

Julian Talamantez Brolaski considers the way we use pronouns to signal gender.

a thread about pronouns.