• EasyDoesIt@lemmy.ml
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    6 months ago

    i think that a gender neutral language can be inclusive for some people but at the same time can be an exclusive language, because can be confusing for other people, is not obvious that it’s the right choice, that’s my opinion

    • Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works
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      6 months ago

      Sorry but when you said “some people”, you didn’t explicitly specify the gender of the people you were referring to, so now I am confused and terrified. In future please use “some male people” or “some female people” to avoid inflicting your gender ideology on me.

    • Lemongrab@lemmy.one
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      6 months ago

      “Singular they” has been common in english since somewhere in the 1300s. Idk how it is confusing, and even if it is, do those individual’s opinion outweigh like grammar? If people are confused they can learn, lest they be confused forever. “They” in this instance would be replacing “he”, so I think the benefit is clear. Or avoid ambiguity by just saying “the developer” (cus I think it was Dev documentation iirc).

      Edit:
      Maybe it was referring to the browser itself? Therefore “it” would make things much less confusing.

    • TheAgeOfSuperboredom@lemmy.ca
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      6 months ago

      In this context the use of “they” is just proper English though. I can’t fault someone who speaks a gendered language from using gendered pronouns as is proper in that language, but the use of “they” in English is correct and hardly political or exclusive. Every language is going to have rules that may be strange to non-native speakers, but any “confusion” is easily remedied by explaining that’s just how the language works. I find that’s also part of the fun of learning another language. I especially love trying to mix the rules of one language into another to see how silly it sounds. :)