Re: gendering

[Bruno Haible]

This gendering stuff is generally off-topic on this list, but it came up here,
therefore I'm replying here. I hope the thread will be short, since so much
has already been written on this topic.

Hi Colin,

You wrote:
> CCing Bruno since this was their commit and they might want to have a look.

While I understand the motivation of gendered language, and myself use
"they/their/them" when talking about an *unidentified* individual in English
— so as to be inclusive and not offend the Sarahs and Leahs of this world —,
in return I ask that you and others treat me as a human. Not as a number.
Not as an email address. But as an *identified* person. In this role, I have
a first name and a last name. And as usual in Western culture, the first
name gives a good clue about the gender. When my first name is used in the
US, it has 100% probability of being a male's first name [1]. Like yours
has a 99.6% probability [2]. Therefore please apply a bit of common sense
when talking about me.

Some people might say "just add (he/his) to your signature". I say NO.
For the vast majority of people in Western culture, the gender can be
inferred from the first name. The Sarahs and Leahs of this world are a
minority, and it's wrong for a minority to dictate what the majority
should do.

So, please be respectful to me. Thanks.

Bruno

[1] 
https://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=gettext.git;a=blob;f=libtextstyle/examples/color-hello/names.c;h=bf8af3630a0e86198da3d0f0c93ba8e0318d048d;hb=HEAD#l13244
[2] 
https://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=gettext.git;a=blob;f=libtextstyle/examples/color-hello/names.c;h=bf8af3630a0e86198da3d0f0c93ba8e0318d048d;hb=HEAD#l18142