A Gender Neutral Title I Actually Like

[Fawlty]

Meet Mx.

I guess it's been around a long time, I just never noticed it.

http://time.com/4106718/what-mx-means/

According to Dictionary.com lexicographer Jane Solomon, this honorific has one of those rare, very-clear etymologies: Dating back to at least the late 1970s, the M was taken from the first letters of those gendered honorifics, and the x was attached to suggest an unknown quantity or thing, like it might in algebra class.

One might use the honorific because they identify as bigender (having two genders), agender (having no gender), gender fluid (experiencing gender in different ways at different times) or perhaps just because they don’t feel like their gender is a defining part of who they are, which needs to be staked out for all to see right in front of their name. Mx. could also be used when referring to a transgender person whose preferred pronouns (he or she, him or her) aren’t clear.

Most of the ideas people have come up with for gender neutral language have been cringy garbage, overly-specific or impractical, or just too different for comfort. I think Mx is not one of those. It strikes me as a simple, clean solution to the basic English honorific and it sends a message of being voluntary. Along with pulling the stick out of our ass about using "they," we've got a good way to handle a big proportion of our gendered words without marginalizing or forcing anybody into anything.

 

[Treeloy]

This shits stupid.

 

[AOM]

hey @Chesten_Hesten ...

the only mx I know ze @Fawlty ...

 

[Seano]

Whatever. Still male or female, no matter what ridiculous, trendy title you want to give yourself.

Pretty unfortunate the way our kids have been brainwashed over this shit.

 

[EndlessCritic]

Dear Comrade

 

[Quipling]

Meet Mx.

I guess it's been around a long time, I just never noticed it.

http://time.com/4106718/what-mx-means/






Most of the ideas people have come up with for gender neutral language have been cringy garbage, overly-specific or impractical, or just too different for comfort. I think Mx is not one of those. It strikes me as a simple, clean solution to the basic English honorific and it sends a message of being voluntary. Along with pulling the stick out of our ass about using "they," we've got a good way to handle a big proportion of our gendered words without marginalizing or forcing anybody into anything.

Gonna use this the next time I can't figure out the gender of a hiring manager.

 

[Gregolian]

Gonna use this the next time I can't figure out the gender of a hiring manager.

Just do this:

 

[all caps]

I got a job, so this shit is nowhere near my radar.

If this matters to you, I suggest seeking employment... immediately

 

[Fawlty]

I got a job, so this shit is nowhere near my radar.

If this matters to you, I suggest seeking employment... immediately

Hey Einstein, this stuff applies to employment.

 

[all caps]

Hey Einstein, this stuff applies to employment.

Yes. Problems exist when we manufacture them. That's true.

 

[Fawlty]

Yes. Problems exist when we manufacture them. That's true.

Solutions exist when we manufacture them. That's what solutions are.

 

[cincymma79]

 

[all caps]

Solutions exist when we manufacture them. That's what solutions are.

Dont create problems, dont have to waste time creating solutions

 

[AOM]

Hey Einstein, this stuff applies to employment.

I think my @on-line bud @sniper is more like Steven Hawking...

01110100 01100001 01101100 01101011 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01100110 01110010 01101111 01101101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100101 01110100 01101000 01100101 01110010

 

[BudKing8806]

Where I work, there is one assessment that asks about what you identify as and one of the options is genderqueer.

 

[Fawlty]

Dont create problems, dont have to waste time creating solutions

Tell that to God, I guess?

The problem goes back a ways, I hear...

 

[CubicleGangster]

can we not turn gender into a math equation?

thx

 

[Fawlty]

I think my @on-line bud @sniper is more like Steven Hawking...

01110100 01100001 01101100 01101011 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01100110 01110010 01101111 01101101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100101 01110100 01101000 01100101 01110010

He's becoming more like him every day...rigorously...

 

[all caps]

Tell that to God, I guess?

The problem goes back a ways, I hear...

Not in my world

And

#NotMyGod

Your God needs to get a life IMO

 

[Fawlty]

Not in my world

And

#NotMyGod

Your God needs to get a life IMO

Then tell it to the single celled organism with the wonky enzymes. Either way, the "problem" goes back pretty far.

I'm a little (only a little) surprised that the WR reaction to this is the standard penis panic. This is not xe ze zhey q stuff, this is more like using "they" in terms of being actually neutral and not pushing a queer agenda.