Also from the GNU Kind Communication Guidelines: "Please don't raise unrelated political issues in GNU Project discussions, because they are off-topic." My existence as a trans person is political. All technical decisions are political decisions about which users needs to meet.https://twitter.com/mjg59/status/1054393356216877056 …
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I can only imagine the amount of work it took to get Stallman to sign off on this communication document. The footnote shows that Stallman gets to define what is disrespectful, regardless of this document. That any of the document could be revoked later if he feels like it.
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From the man who advocated that his systems be free as in freedom, but doesn't think other people have the freedom to choose the language they like? I get that people will refuse to use your pronouns, but I really didn't think people would try and say you couldn't use them.
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I don't think he's trying to force you into not using the pronouns you like: "You do not have to use they" and "I do not demand others adopt these gender-neutral singular pronouns; I only suggest that this change is better than the other proposed change."
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There are major problems with his approach and statement, but I think he's pretty clear on this issue that his preferences are not dictates.
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Ehhhh, that's entirely unclear. What is clear is that some people see him as a leader, and if he refuses to use they/them pronouns, others will find excuses not to as well.
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Agreed on the latter point. When he says why he doesn't use they/them, he's arguing that others shouldn't as well. However (to me), "If other participants complain about the way you express your ideas, please make an effort to cater to them." requires they/them if requested.
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We'll see what happens when somebody makes this request. I am not optimistic, though I wish I was.
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It certainly seems polite to call people the exact pronouns they prefer, but I don't understand why someone would insist specifically on one of "they", "zie", "ey", "ou", etc. as opposed to accepting any gender-neutral personal pronoun. What's the difference?
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"They" is kind of a catch-all term for several gender identities. You could be a demi-boy, agender, genderfluid, etc. "zie" & "ey" are not gender neutral pronouns. They're an attempt to define a completely new pronoun that better describes someone's gender. Highly personal choice
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I see how that's true if a person says "call me 'zie', because it reflects such-and-such aspect of my gender", but it doesn't seem to hold in general? Spivak pronouns were created, and "ou" was revived, to be umbrella gender-neutral pronouns, alternatives to "they".
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It's funny how rarely people who have a problem with they pronouns because they're plural are okay with using singular neo-pronouns like hir or ze. Weird. It's almost like that's not really what it's about for them at all

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Not surprised that RMS thinks he knows English better than Shakespeare, Chaucer, Lord Byron, Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage, The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, etc. That entirely predictable combination of ego and motivated reasoning.
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Ah english, that immutable language that never changes, which is why dictionaries in CS are data structures with only lookup operations, as we all learned.
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Yes, obviously languages change, but the singular they has been in common usage for hundreds of years so you don't even need that argument.
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Yep, of course, and I realize this is entirely peripheral as the damage from RMS etc. is erasing people's identity and denying human rights and care, but I find it ridiculous he assumes as a white dude he has ownership and control over english to set terms in a post-colonial era.
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...and the very paragraph with the footnote repeatedly uses singular they with no apparent difficulty
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So he doesn't use the word "you" either, I guess?

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"You" is only plural, so thou canst not use it for thee.
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Wow. Just wow. "My suggestion is better than their suggestion because it fits better with how I imagine English", tossing out all evidence from English.
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They/them is honestly the simplest and most natural, as evidenced by their use of it in the article itself. But failing to respect any expressed pronouns is as you say entirely disrespectful. The Stallman article is linguistically ignorant, and basically "what feels right to me".
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