A Critique of Gender within the English Language
It has come to me, recently – startling thought –
When we reference gender, it’s not as we ought.
Can a three-letter pronoun have clearly defined
The complex sexuality we have in mind?
With that, ought we even to speak of sex now?
It’s a physical fact that has relevance, how,
But to doctors and intimate partners and such?
For the casual observer, it’s just a bit much.
Nonetheless, antiquated divisions still hold:
‘Her-or-his’ and ‘s/he’ are conforming, not bold.
Besides that, they’re longer or hard to pronounce
And ugly as well (if appearance still counts).
Just to write democratically is my solution;
Rid the world of this wordy unwanted pollution:
Universalize every term that’s elite,
Get rid of the others (to keep language neat).
This reasoning then, is what gives me the gall
To say, ‘God made man,’ and know He made us all.
—
I wrote this a while ago, and in case the points don’t really come through clearly, I meant to highlight two things:
1) Despite some modern trends to treat men and women exactly the same, the English language – and all other languages I know – treats men and women very differently. Maybe there’s a reason.
2) If one really wants to be politically correct, one will cease to distinguish sex, race, colour, etc., in language. Using a universal “he” would be the best way, since it would automatically raise everyone to what has been considered the “higher” form of address.
Kind of a silly poem, on the whole, but I just found it again.