Writing Wednesdays with Gary Graphite: New Year, New Me

Have you been sweating it out in the gym for your “new physical me?” Or have you been exclusively shopping in the produce aisle for your “new healthy-eater me?” Or maybe you’ve been going to bed a little bit earlier and you are working on being a “new better-rested me.” Whatever your “New Year, New Me” resolutions are, I hope you’re incorporating a “new better-writer me.”

Speaking of the word “me” reminds me that pronouns can be a prickly problem. Language is continuously changing, as is our openness for people of all genders, and this is a good thing. But what does this mean for you as a writer?

Well, I consulted the fiery feminists, and social justice warriors on the Writing Centre staff and on campus. Here’s the deal with pronoun use in writing:

He or She; Him or Her; His or Hers

• “He or she” has traditionally been used when the word it refers to (called an antecedent) is singular. Unless, of course, the writer is referring to a specific person, and knows the pronoun of that the person.

They/Their/Them

• Here’s where things get interesting, and why I’m in this business in the first place. In the past, “they/their/them” has only been used when referring to more than one person.
• However, now that perceptions and realities of gender are changing, “they/their/them” is considered a more inclusive way to refer to a singular person. I don’t want to make this personal, but look at me. For years, I’ve been Gary, even though I’m a pencil. It’s been confusing, to say the least. I don’t know what the parents were thinking. Obviously, they weren’t thinking. I need to regroup. I need a new me. I need … a new pronoun … or maybe no pronoun at all??

But I digress. This column is about you and your relationship with pronouns, so let’s take a look at the following examples, and see how all of this works:

Using a singular pronoun for a singular antecedent:

“A student left his or her backpack on the bus. Poor him or her!”

Using a plural pronoun for a plural antecedent:

“Some students left their backpacks on the bus. Poor them!”

Using a specific singular pronoun when the gender reference is known:

“Sarah left her backpack on the bus. Poor her!”

Using a plural pronoun when the gender reference is known, or when the gender is unknown, or simply to be inclusive and respectful:

“Sarah left their backpack on the bus. Poor them!”

“A student left their backpack on the bus. Poor them!”

So there you have it. Sure, the hard-core grammarians might be slow to accept such changes, but I mean, hey, we are the new generation! We get to make changes to our language.

Peace out.

G. Graphite