More Baking! Now with Gender!

[eredien]

I made some vegan Genderbread cookies for badoingdoing's excellent coming-out party yesterday--had a lot of fun and some good discussions with friends old and new. It was really interesting, and refreshing, to be asked what pronoun I preferred to use; it puts you in a different headspace. I eventually went with "she," but I had to think about it/got to think about it. I wish there were a gender-neutral pronoun in English that didn't obscure/dismiss gender altogether ("it"), or didn't sound ridiculous to my ear (any of these solutions).

I feel like using an invented gender-neutral pronoun in a non-explicitly gender-safe space is problematic in that people may either mishear you (deliberately or non-deliberately), or that you will be asked to explain your pronoun. I don't want to have to explain my pronouns, or my gender, to others, every time I talk to them--partially because I don't always understand how to explain it to myself.

Other people--what do you think? Does anyone have thoughts or experiences to share?

Here is the recipie for the cookies--they were not traditional gingerbread, but sugar. The next time I make these, I should remember to add the food coloring with the liquid ingredients so it mixes better into the dough; adding it after the dough is made resulted in a lot of needless kneading. I replaced the butter with soy margarine, and replaced the cream with soy milk. It worked fine.

Comments

[koshiii.livejournal.com]

Okay, in the "make Tammy's head hurt" department, it seems that badoingdoing went to my high school and was good friends with my little sister (mao4269).

My Bryn Mawr world and my TJHSST world are colliding. Oy.

Keep posting the vegan recipes. What the heck is soy margarine and do you think it's possible to find it in the middle of nowhere?

[sovay]

I wish there were a gender-neutral pronoun in English that didn't obscure/dismiss gender altogether ("it"), or didn't sound ridiculous to my ear (any of these solutions).

At least English doesn't automatically gender verbs/nouns/adjectives; it is possible to speak in the first and second person without having to come down for one gender or another. Of course, that doesn't help much with third-party reference.

How do you feel about "they," or does plural-for-singular also sound ridiculous?

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

I like "xe" a lot as a neutral pronoun, myself.

[krinndnz.livejournal.com]

The gingerbread cookies look tasty. As for pronouns, I'm a fan of xe/xie, but it definitely sounds silly currently, because of unfamiliarity. Probably an unavoidable step in the adoption of any neologism.

[eredien]

The world is very small.

http://www.earthbalancenatural.com/#/where-to-buy/
You can probably also buy some on the internet and get it shipped to you, though it likely will melt in transit.

[eredien]

"They" might work, but sometimes it's harder to remember to switch plural for singular than switch singular for singular.

[eredien]

Thanks for the suggestions of "xe," Peggy and Krinndnz.

A question: what is the difference in pronounciation between "xe" and "xie"?
Maybe it's just my accent, but when I pronounce "xe" it sounds like "z" and when I pronounce "xie" it also sounds like "z." Is it supposed to sound like "zie," with the "ie" sound as you would say it when you were giving an example (i.e., ie?)

[krinndnz.livejournal.com]

To the best of my knowledge, xe and xie are both pronounced "zee."

[kaypendragon.livejournal.com]

Kith has been using "yo" as the gender neutral pronoun. Apparently it was started by some inner-city kids in MD (he can point you to the peer-edited journal article on it, if you'd like). Once he explains it to newbies, it seems to work well for him.

[salamandream.livejournal.com]

Thirding xe.

Although. I use xe/xer in writing, but pronounce them as "zay/zir". Inconsistent, but more euphonic to my ears.