Monday, April 29, 2013

32.15% of Students are Shitheads

Recently the SGA held a referendum to change the language of the SGA Constitution from gender-specific pronouns to gender-neutral pronouns. Any change to the Constitution must be voted on by the student body #democracy.

What are gender-neutral pronouns? These are pronouns that do not refer to any gender (duh). Traditionally people have used "he" to refer to all people (for example, "Any student that wishes to start a club may do so. He must submit his club proposal by the Sunday before the next meeting") because it's easy and because of patriarchy (probably).


Why does this matter?
  • Using the default "he" to refer to all people reinforces patriarchy
  • Some individuals do not identify with he or she pronouns and do not feel comfortable with gender-specific language in documents such as this
  • This is an easy and obvious way to make the campus more inclusive of all people

Why would someone vote against this?
I don't know. Maybe they are a transphobic sexist shithead. That is the only rationale I can think of for voting against this, as 217 St. Mary's students chose to do. This isn't just "liberal political correctness," it's something that affects people daily. Language is powerful.

This is, obviously, the Freedom of Conscience statue (AKA the Naked Man), dedicated for the 300th anniversary of Maryland. Freedom of Conscience is the ability to view and consider something from point of view of another. Maybe this change doesn't affect you. It doesn't really affect me. But it does affect some people, so try not being an asshole and recognize that fact. That's what a 'liberal arts' education is all about, broadening your horizons and experiencing the world from multiple perspectives.

If you chose to vote against this feel free to explain why in the comments.

29 comments:

  1. Because it is linguistically correct. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-neutral_pronoun#Universal_.22he.22

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    1. Right, because the English language has never changed and is completely static.

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    2. Or people just get their panties up in a bunch over nothing. People more and more like to find offense in everything but their morning cereal, and even that isn't completely safe.

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    3. wow but maybe this isn't about being offended by binary pronouns, and is about being inclusive. sorry not sorry, why do you even have a problem with this?

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    4. Would you rather be uncomfortable with grammar or be uncomfortable that your gender isn't recognized and respected by your own school?
      I'm gonna go with grammar.

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    5. that wikipedia article you linked to literally does not prove any point. see: "Since at least the 15th century, "they" (though, as with singular "you", used with verbs conjugated in the plural, not the singular), "them", "themself", "themselves", and "their" have been used, in an increasingly accepted fashion, as singular pronouns. This usage of the word "they" is often thus called the singular "they". The singular "they" is widely used and accepted in Britain, Australia, and North America in conversation. "

      look with just a matter of scrolling i used your own evidence to provide a counterargument (providing that we're considering wikipedia to be the last word on this subject) also wow not surprised that a dude is "getting his panties in a bunch" over wanting to change masculine pronouns to gender neutral ones its not like anyone is even considering changing the default to feminine pronouns wouldn't want you to burst a blood vessel over losing your rights as a man

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    6. Here's some writing on singular they that I think you might be interested in seeing: http://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/singular-they-and-the-many-reasons-why-its-correct/

      Also! It was never specified what sort of gender-neutral pronouns were to be used, so it could just be "one".

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  2. If you refer to the document (http://www.smcm.edu/sga/senate/legislation/2012-2013/3.19.13AConstitutionalAmendmentConcerningGenderSpecificPronouns.pdf) you can see that they gave no clear indication on what they wanted to change the gender specific pronouns to. All they said is that they wanted to change it. The only legitimate alternative I can think of (other than "shklee") is "it". Calling someone an "it" just seems offensive. It's not a fact of being sexist (at least for me), it's just based on the fact that the SGA either didn't think this through well enough, or didn't provide the voters with enough information.

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    1. I would assume that they would use the pronoun "one." As in, "One must submit one's project proposal before such and such date etc." The SGA should have been more clear in their wording (I guess?) but maybe they thought it was a no-brainer.

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    2. Get your heads out of your asses and into the 21st century, please.

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    3. More information would have been nice, but I'm assuming they were thinking of "one" or singular they. Here's some info on singular they: http://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/singular-they-and-the-many-reasons-why-its-correct/

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    4. The legislation could have been more specific, but it doesn't really matter necessarily what gender-neutral pronoun they change it to, as long as that new gender-neutral pronoun is inclusive. As others have pointed out, there are alternatives other than 'it' such as 'one' and 'they'.

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  3. ITT White guys who don't "get it"~

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    1. ITT White guys who put grammar ahead of gender dysphoria

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  4. I voted yes on this and completely agree that SMC needs to be more inclusive of people but posts like this are not going to get people who oppose this to change their views. Grow up and try to cultivate some actual change, rather than just call people shitheads and assholes. People at SMCM tend to just look for things to offend them and then get up in arms about it, rather than trying to educate those who have offended them and make an actual change. The old adage, "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar" rings true here and in every day life here at SMC.

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    1. 1. Yelling at people is more fun
      2. I did provide education via explaining what gender-neutral pronouns are, why they are important, and why it is a big deal

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    2. After calling those who disagree with it transphobic sexist shitheads. I know that if I opposed this, I wouldn't be inclined in the slightest to support anyone who called me that. And yeah, yelling at people is more fun but it's not particularly productive.

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    3. You are right, it is not particularly productive. There is no denying that.

      It is childish and immature but sometimes you get frustrated that there are 212 students at a school that you love that don't get it, that no one bothered to explain why this is a big issue, that maybe the school or ResLife or the OL staff or the SGA failed to explain why this is a real issue. That years later it is still an issue.

      I am not here to educate.

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    4. Also let's be honest, it's pure Yellow Journalism and generates more pageviews and advertising money and publicity which is the real goal of any 'blog'~

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    5. If you genuinely care about an issue, and you certainly seem to care about this one, your goal should be to educate and inform those who are ignorant.

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    6. I'm with ya, Tom - you can be both angry and informative. Keep on keepin' on! :)

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  5. Also there is this thing that exists which is called changing sentence structure to obviate pronouns in the first place. It's not hard. We are honors college.

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  6. Some people just want to watch the world burn.

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  7. I like how the author of this post was talking about the ability to choose. Then defamming anyone who chose the choice she didn't want. People should be allowed to choose no if they want. No need to call out the 217 who voted against it. I hate how St.Mary's goes on a witch hunt against anyone who has any opposing views from being a extreme liberal. That being said it is really easy and not a big deal to change the wording in the constitution.

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  8. Look at how much cooler the entire country of Sweden is compared to us:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/11/swedish-gender-neutral-pronoun-hen-national-encyclopedia_n_3063293.html

    Also, everyone at SMCM should take at least one anthropology or cultural studies class to understand how important this is. Gender is socially constructed, and there are many people that don't feel comfortable being shoved into a male or female gender category. Technically, we have also created the biological sex categories of male and female because we have chosen which biological features designate male and which biological features designate female. So...that also can be uncomfortable for people.

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  9. I love how an attempt at being inclusive is "an extreme liberal point of view." Wow, those "compassionate conservatives" really know how to throw up a big tent, don't they? And they wonder why they're having so many problems connecting with anyone who isn't white, male, heterosexual and rich...

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