There are 23 Genders

[Townhallsavoy]

Yesterday in an editing class, we were discussing the ole pronoun-antecedent issue - A student turned in a paper and they did not put their name on it. 

The question was posed what to do if a person really did not want to identify the gender of the student in the pronoun.  I being the old geezer of the group suggested using "he or she," but the instructor asked if using he or she multiple times in a paragraph would be cumbersome.  I lightly shook my head and said no. 

That's when a girl piped up and said that this was really just an archaic dilemma.  She said that language is progressing past the old world view of gender importance and that new pronouns are being established to remove the stigma of gender identity.  She also said that she is studying queer theory with an emphasis on gender-neutral language in early education. 

Anyways, for your future endeavors, please use the pronoun "Zhe" instead of he or she as it is better.  For whatever reason. 

[Godfather]

Fuck Zer

[Tiger Wench]

One of my favorite authors, Larry Correia, has railed against this whole gender normative issue for a long time.  "Progressives" in science-fiction want to remove the use of "binary gender" (meaning male/female)  and make all characters gender neutral. 

Stupid article by a stupid progchick

He wrote a great blog post in response to that bullshit and was crucified by the Social Justice Warriors:

Ending Binary Gender In Fiction (Or "How to murder your writing career")

Now, the Social Justice Warrior King, a complete tool but a modestly well published writer John Scalzi, does this in his latest book... His main character never reveals its gender, so TWO audio versions have been published, one with a male narrator and one with a female narrator.  That way the reader can choose the gender with which he/she/it/shim/shu/zhu/whateverthefuck best identifies with and not feel disenfranchised by the discrimination inherent in the normative use of the cis-male primary identifier.    

John Scalzi’s latest novel, Lock In (Tor, Aug.) breaks new ground in several ways: not only is it a combination of science fiction, thriller, and police procedural that received a starred review from PW, but One edition features actor Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation) as narrator Chris Shane, and the other features actor Amber Benson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as Shane.Audible released two editions of the audiobook this week.

Lock In begins in the near future, when a highly contagious virus spreads across the globe. Most of those infected experience only flu, fever and headaches, but a few experience “Lock In” – they are fully awake and aware but unable to respond to stimulus or to move. Twenty-five years later, in a world shaped by what's now known as Haden's Syndrome, rookie FBI agent Chris Shane is paired with veteran agent Leslie Vann to investigate a complicated murder. Another complication is that Shane is afflicted with Haden's Syndrome. And complicating things for the reader (or not) Shane never reveals his or her gender throughout the narrative.

“In the world I created, simply put, Chris could effectively decide to present as any gender, or choose not to present a gender at all. That’s part of who Chris is,” said Scalzi, who won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel for Redshirts.

Both actors entered fully into the spirit of the experience and waxed philosophical about it during a videotaped interview. "It's very much about identity. What does a body mean? Does that define who we are as human beings or is it our consciousness?"  :rolleyes:Benson asked, while Wheaton pointed out that he and Benson “each bring certain choices to [the narration] that are informed by our lives and our genders.” And, he noted, “I’m sure we made different choices for how the other characters sounded.”

While Audible declined to disclose sales figures, the company reported that Lock In had the highest number of pre-orders ever for an Audible Studios production; both editions received “thousands” of pre-orders, with the Wheaton edition topping the Benson edition.  [SEXIST PIGS!!!]

This kind of shit makes my head explode.  It is SCI FI.  Make the guy fornicate with twelve breasted eight foot tall green asexual aliens - but if no one wants to read about that, don't be surprised if you don't make money at it!!

[Snaggletiger]