The problem that conservatives have is not with pronouns, it is with the idea that they have to respect and include people who may be different from them.
Host Ken Jennings replied affirmatively, “Those are pronouns, neopronouns.”
This innocuous clue and response caused conservative users to collectively lose their minds, and threaten to boycott the show, ostensibly over the view that the show was endorsing “mental illness.” In reality, the game show was just using an example of a practice of inclusion that has become more prevalent, but is far from a new invention.
“Pronouns are basically how we identify ourselves apart from our name. It’s how someone refers to you in conversation,” O’Hara said. “And when you’re speaking to people, it’s a really simple way to affirm their identity. So, for example, using the correct pronouns for trans and nonbinary youth is a way to let them know that you see them, you affirm them, you accept them, and to let them know that they’re loved during a time when they’re really being targeted by so many discriminatory anti-trans state laws and policies.”
The problem that the loud and vocal conservatives have is not with pronouns. It is with the idea that they have to respect and include people who may be different from them. For them, the use of pronouns signals an erasure of their core belief that there are only two sexes, a concept which science has not quite agreed with.
When asked why, several respondents indicated their religious beliefs or a belief in an agenda pushed by the media. They also cited a desire to protect children, which has been a popular argument pushed by Republicans such as Florida Gov. Ron Desantis.
One respondent said of gender identity, “People now believe everyone should just forget about their birth identity and just go along with what they think they are. God made us all for a reason and if He intended us to pick our gender then there would be no reason to be born with specific male or female parts.”
Another responded to concerns about the media, saying, “News media, social media and entertainment media companies are trying to change, and it seems they have been succeeding in changing public opinion on this issue for many people.”
Another person criticized schools, echoing the concerns of DeSantis, “It’s being pushed on society and especially on younger children, confusing them all the more. This is not something that should be taught in schools.”
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Source: Black Enterprise
