personally, i find them really cool, and a nice way for neurodivergent members of the LGBTQ to express themselves.
claire.....Hello again! Well, you've certainly thrown me a curve with your post! This is the first I've really heard of this. So I did some digging and now I know quite a bit more! First of all I think that a person has the right to request being called pretty much whatever they chose. Of course that doesn't mean that everyone will do it and there has been a significant push-back about multiple gender-names in our heteronormative society. I would be surprised if ze/zir/zirs or Xe/Xem/Xyr, etc. come into general use anytime soon but it wouldn't be the first time that I have been completely wrong! As far as being neurodivergent...I was surprise again to discover that, since I have OCD...not as an occasional joke, but as a diagnosed and on medication for it condition, that I am neurodivergent. Judy Singer, who developed the neurodivergent concept feels that people who have this condition should not be medicated. I will have to disagree with her. My life premedication was at times very difficult and sometimes almost impossible to function. Now I am able to function normally (whatever that means! Anyway, since you have brought it up...what neopronouns do you prefer?
As someone with ADD and probably autism (self diagnosed at this point, but looking into a professional opinion) I'm curious what link you see between neurodivergence and neopronouns? Is it that NDs are less likely to conform to traditional gender definitions? I'm kind of of two minds on the subject. On the one hand, I think that "they/them" pronouns should cover anyone who doesn't fit within the he/she binary. Letting people just choose their pronouns and make them up as they go can result in needing to remember potentially dozens of neopronouns. On the other hand, I think that people have a right to be comfortable with their identities, so if they want to be xes, or zirs, or whatever, then why should I try and stop them? There are, I'm sure, those who would make up neopronouns just to seem unique and special, but they'd probably give it up pretty quickly. Still, I'm gonna respect people's pronouns, including neopronouns; just because I don't quite understand it doesn't mean I won't respect it.
I can refer to myself as 'unicornsexual' if I want. It does not mean that's an acceptable term, that anyone else on the planet will acknowledge it, that it will mean anything to anyone other than the people I spend time explaining it to. People can do whatever they want, but as to whether it's practical and sensible is another discussion entirely.
Labels can be really useful - They can give people who have been questioning (or that still are) a sense of closure (right word?) and its finally putting how they feel into a words, which is great! However, once you get off the beaten path when it comes to labels/pronouns I have question how much good it does. Hopefully not too harsh, but imho, if you are continually having to explain things to people, even people in the same community....then what does the label really do?
I have several friends who use them. I will use whatever pronouns someone wants just the same as I will use whatever name they ask me to use. It is not difficult to do so why not? Basic respect is an easy form of kindness and the world needs a lot more kindness. I am uncertain why you connect it with neurodivergence though, I am autistic and I use she/her.
I'm in the "Other people can call themselves what they want, but it's not for me" camp. I'm not going to abandon he/him, she/her, or they/them pronouns in favour of something that takes way too much time for me to have to reflect on before being able to properly use them. But like I said--whatever other people choose to do is up to them. As long as people stop expecting everyone else to jump on board and abandon the terms they're more comfortable with, I couldn't care less.
As someone who likes language, I think they're interesting. Language is pretty random, anyway. But I really really dislike how, some people just turn them into a joke... but they're not difficult to use in small settings. I just don't know.
I think I'll just stick with he/she. At least until everyone begins wearing name tags with their preferred pronouns written on them.
It’s confusing to me because it’s third person pronouns so it’s used only when someone’s talking about you. I call myself I/me/myself, when spoken to I’m you/yourself. I’m rarely about when someones talking about me, I think? I guess "oh there x is!" is a possible. My preference is he when I’m that end of the binary and she at the other end - in the middle, hmmmm, hesh?
I’d go as far as using they/them for people who prefer not to be referred to as he or she but there seems to be a million different pronouns that literally sound like they were just made up. On Wikipedia there’s a whole list of them. Once you get past he/she it gets confusing.
I will definitely respect other people's pronouns at least, so if they'd like me to specifically use those, I will try to make an effort to use them. I agree that sometimes they can be hard to use in every situation, and I would probably use they/them pronouns for them in those cases. Even so, I think they're amazing for those who feel gender euphoric from them! I don't use neopronouns, but I'm a trans guy, so I understand the joy somone could get from pronouns!
I had a friend ask me to use ne/nem, and I respect nir decision to ask those closest to nem to adopt the pronouns that are the most comfortable for nem. That said, ne is also happy to be referred to as they - it's already widely used in the English language as an appropriate pronoun (even with the unnecessary drama there still is surrounding its singular use). I think the thing with neopronouns is that they're largely impractical and only really feasible in specific settings, but I think most neopronoun users are aware that designer pronouns have a ton of limits of use. Personally, I'm all for anything that further dismantles the gender binary and adds variance to the human condition. I think humans are meant to be playful, and linguistic playfulness is a common way to create new forms of personal expression. I use the term playfulness not to discredit neopronoun users - quite the opposite. Playfulness isn't frivolous or trivial, it's a vital part to the growth and shaping of humankind. Every creator is playful by nature.