Article ID: 23
-tl;dr: ``他'' uses the ``人'' (person) radical, and should cover all +
tl;dr: `他' uses the `人' (person) radical, and should cover all people, because not all people are male.
-In contemporary English, the traditional plural pronoun ``they'' is +
In contemporary English, the traditional plural pronoun `they' is often used as a gender-inclusive singular pronoun, alongside the -feminine singular ``she'' and the masculine singular ``he''. However, there -is no equivalent in Chinese. ``他'' is considered a masculine pronouns in -contemporary Chinese, despite its ``人'' radical and its history of +feminine singular `she' and the masculine singular `he'. However, there +is no equivalent in Chinese. `他' is considered a masculine pronouns in +contemporary Chinese, despite its `人' radical and its history of traditionally being a gender-inclusive pronoun until the 1920s. This -article argues for the reclaiming of ``他'' as a gender-inclusive +article argues for the reclaiming of `他' as a gender-inclusive pronoun.
Prior to the May Fourth Movement and the broader New Culture -Movement, ``他'' was a generic pronoun for all entities, including people +Movement, `他' was a generic pronoun for all entities, including people of any gender, and inanimate objects. In the movements’ efforts to -``modernize'' the Chinese language and culture, a separate feminine -pronoun ``她'' was created by the poet and linguist 刘半农, becoming an +`modernize' the Chinese language and culture, a separate feminine +pronoun `她' was created by the poet and linguist 刘半农, becoming an established linguistic norm after the Chinese Civil War. (A separate -``它'' was created for inanimate objects; however this has little +`它' was created for inanimate objects; however this has little relevance to the arguments in this article.)
-A distinct feminine pronoun ``她'' along with ``他'' being a masculine +
A distinct feminine pronoun `她' along with `他' being a masculine pronoun poses three problems: (1) the annoyances caused by the lack of a inclusive placeholder pronoun, (2) the reinforcement of gender binary normatives and the lack of a neutral pronoun, and (3) the marginalization of the feminine from the concept of personhood.
When referring to a placeholder of unknown gender in contemporary -English, singular they pronouns are often used, such as in ``someone left -their laptop here''. Such colloquial conversations are generally +English, singular they pronouns are often used, such as in `someone left +their laptop here'. Such colloquial conversations are generally unproblematic as all normative third-person pronouns in Mandarin sound -the same: tā. However, in written contexts, many use ``他/她'' resembling -``he/she''. Aside from how this reinforces gender binary and alienates +the same: tā. However, in written contexts, many use `他/她' resembling +`he/she'. Aside from how this reinforces gender binary and alienates women (see the next two paragraphs), it is visually unappealing (as half-width slashes look particularly distinct from full-width CJK ideographs and break typographical uniformity) and adds unnecessary @@ -47,33 +47,33 @@ as me until this commit) often prefer singular they pronouns. (I do not wish to turn this article into a detailed discussion of non-binary gender, please -read Leah Rowe’s article ``Better respect for non-binary -people, in defense of human rights'' if this concept seems -unfamiliar.) The status quo of ``她'' being solely a feminine pronoun and -``他'' being solely a masculine pronoun reinforces gender binary and +people, in defense of human rights' if this concept seems +unfamiliar.) The status quo of `她' being solely a feminine pronoun and +`他' being solely a masculine pronoun reinforces gender binary and leaves no gender-neutral/inclusive pronoun for non-binary people who would prefer such pronouns.
-The more fundamental issue with ``他'' as a masculine pronoun lies in -its character composition and etymology. ``他'' is a compound character -consisting of a ``人'' (person) radical and ``也'', while ``她'' consists of a -``女'' (female) radical and ``也''. Limiting ``他'' as a male pronoun assumes -the male gender as dominant in ``people'', and marginalizes other genders, -most prominently the female gender, as groups distinct from ``people''. -This aligns with the development of the ``她'' pronoun as a distinct -subset of what used to be covered by ``他''. I believe that a character’s +
The more fundamental issue with `他' as a masculine pronoun lies in +its character composition and etymology. `他' is a compound character +consisting of a `人' (person) radical and `也', while `她' consists of a +`女' (female) radical and `也'. Limiting `他' as a male pronoun assumes +the male gender as dominant in `people', and marginalizes other genders, +most prominently the female gender, as groups distinct from `people'. +This aligns with the development of the `她' pronoun as a distinct +subset of what used to be covered by `他'. I believe that a character’s composition should not be deceptive to its meaning, and therefore, the -``他'' with the ``人'' radical should describe any person, not just any male +`他' with the `人' radical should describe any person, not just any male person.
-While I believe that ``他'' should be truly gender inclusive, its current +
While I believe that `他' should be truly gender inclusive, its current masculine standing does make it similar to Generic he to some extent. I dislike generic he as it reflects bias towards men, but -an inclusive ``他'' does carry these risks. Therefore I propose that +an inclusive `他' does carry these risks. Therefore I propose that those who prefer a unique masculine pronoun may choose to use one -with a ``男'' (male) radical instead. While ``男也'' (read that as one character) has not been given a +with a `男' (male) radical instead. While `男也' (read that as one character) has not been given a Unicode code-point yet, I find this solution to be much more ideal than -stereotypical generalizations with ``他''.
+stereotypical generalizations with `他'.Please give me some of your thoughts.
-- cgit 1.4.1-2-gfad0