Uchenna, Writer, Engineering Student

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Language and Gender: My Take

Here it is. My personal opinion. Not to be taken as fact at all, rather the humble view of a teenager.

I'd say not to mess with these languages. Any of them. Not forcibly, at least. Languages are already so flexible, they're meant to adapt to society's needs. So, when the time comes, gender neutral terminology will be used worldwide, even in a language as stubborn as French. However, the brute force being used to force it in, in my opinion, is only slowing us down. The more it's pushed, the more resistance there'll be. Something like language really just needs to be let go as the changes will occur naturally, for better or worse. The non-cisgendered community is rapidly growing, and the terms they go under are also growing. It's only a matter of time.
Do I support it? Meh.
I don't have a problem with people identifying as they wish. The only issue is how forced the terminology changes are. People have been using he and she (and whatever it is in other languages) since the beginning of time. So yes, it will take a minute for any person to get it right. Even outside of the words I use, there is a portion of the LGBT community that push their ideals so much, that it's delaying their goal. If we could all just calm down and let it ride, then I'd be fine. However, I occasionally feel like mere adjectives are being used as entire genders. Feminine and masculine are simply groups of stereotypical traits that I person can hold. Masculine doesn't mean a man, feminine doesn't mean a woman. While this isn't always the case, and there are plenty of trans people who I can understand their stories to an extent, but pangender(identifying with all genders)? Even if that were a thing, why is it separated from bigender? There are only two, so where'd the all come from? If you asked me, it sounds like someone felt a little masculine, a little feminine, a little neutral, and a little both. And, we all do. It's natural. Gender and stereotypical traits are being confused entirely way too often.
To continue on this point, a reason for the push of French gender neutrality was because of how the current structure affected women. The people behind this felt women were treated unfairly because masculine dominates feminine. Well, it does. Like I said, those two words are simply adjectives--umbrella terms for certain human traits. And think about it. The feminine stereotype is submissive, emotional, and preppy. The masculine one is strong, fearless, and analytical. This isn't to say all men and women are like this, but this is an entirely different concept. And in this regard, masculine dominates feminine. And though languages like French based their masculine over feminine rule on old social standards, so was masculine and feminine. So people deciding they're now a man because they act masculine are also following old social standards. Once you put it like that, some of the people who are fighting so hard for gender neutral terms, are simultaneously bowing to that very gender difference they're trying to eliminate.

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