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Alternatives for gendered words?

Discussion in 'Gender Identity and Expression' started by wontwalkblindly, May 2, 2014.

  1. wontwalkblindly

    Regular Member

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    Location:
    Jupiter
    Gender:
    Female
    Gender Pronoun:
    She
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Gendered words like sir, ma'am, miss, mister, etc... Are really..weird. I don't like them.
    ...i guess they never really bothered me much before, but I've watched a lot of stuff from trans* YouTube channels because I think it is important to learn about all sides of your community, not just your own side (the adorable people that run the channels are a bonus). ..and I've just become really..sensitive?..to people gendering other people like that. (Thinking: Well what if they don't identify as female?! When someone says "here you are ma'am." at the store) ...but I mean... I understand it.. Because you want to call them something but you don't know their name... ..but it's just... I, personally, would never want to be the cause of dysphoria..or bad feelings..or whatever.... .......long ranty thing that was probably unnecessary... Basically: what are some non-gendered or gender-neutral alternative to the words listed at the beginning? Ideas?
     
  2. I don't know any common alternatives to those words, but to be honest, I just do without them. I try to be genuinely polite and kind to people I don't know and avoid any sort of gendered term. I also tend to find titles and honorifics like the ones you've mentioned uncomfortable for other reasons, but I understand that largely they're meant to be respectful.

    I have heard of people using Mx instead of Mr, Mrs, or Ms. I think this is probably pronounced "mix"
     
  3. WillowRose

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    Comrade? Friend? Citizen? ... Sorry, my family history of leftism is showing.
     
  4. Techno Kid

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    haha I like those! :grin:
     
  5. Calix

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    My best friend works in a store and she can't work out if a regular customer is a cross-dresser of MtF, so she just avoids using them. It's not that hard to be honest. It sucks when you get misgendered. But one time I got a 'sir', it was awesome xD
     
  6. Emulator

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    I've heard of "Mixter", though I doubt many people will get used to it.

    I avoid those gendered terms even if the person's gender seems obvious