Drops of Diversity

The above are gender-neutral pronouns... What does that mean? Well, if you are a man or woman, you probably use he/she, him/her and his/hers. Some people are gender non-conforming- they prefer you not identify them as a man or woman. Another word people use is genderqueer, meaning they identify with neither gender, or both. Many people out there think of gender as a spectrum, not a binary (one or the other).

Gender is defined as something we identify culturally or socially, not biologically. After all, you can't tell whether someone has a penis or vagina just by looking at them, so you are using other social cues like dress, hair, make-up, etc to place them in a category. Gender non-conformists would rather you not place them in one of those categories. Not everyone who prefers gender-neutral pronouns is gender non-conforming. Some identify as a man or woman, but still use gender-neutral pronouns.