Unfortunately, "it" applied to a person is an insult. People seem to have settled on "they", instead, which bugs me because it creates confusion. I wish they'd at least tried to introduce a new word; there are a number of candidates, but none have taken hold.
Unfortunately, "it" applied to a person is an insult. People seem to have settled on "they", instead, which bugs me because it creates confusion. I wish they'd at least tried to introduce a new word; there are a number of candidates, but none have taken hold.
Why, exactly is it an insult? The etymology wouldn't suggest so. That some people feel less-than when being called one ungendered pronoun over another isn't the speaker's fault, it's the listener's. After all, as progressive icon Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent."
Unfortunately, "it" applied to a person is an insult. People seem to have settled on "they", instead, which bugs me because it creates confusion. I wish they'd at least tried to introduce a new word; there are a number of candidates, but none have taken hold.
Why, exactly is it an insult? The etymology wouldn't suggest so. That some people feel less-than when being called one ungendered pronoun over another isn't the speaker's fault, it's the listener's. After all, as progressive icon Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent."