Ze Didn’t Start The Fire
An old quote just brought to our attention, here. Consider the case of Senator Toby Hill-Meyer, encountered in full performance-art flow:
All performers identified with more than one race, challenging the idea that they should fit neatly into one ethnic category. But Hill-Meyer, a women’s and gender studies major, also questioned the practice of fitting into a single gender category. Hill-Meyer has requested for the purposes of this article that the Emerald refer to Hill-Meyer using the gender-neutral pronouns “ze” for “he” and “hir” for “him.”
“I’ve had stories that I needed to tell for awhile,” ze said. “When it comes down to it, the pronouns that people use for me is not the point. I don’t feel that any gendered pronoun is appropriate for me. I’m trying to get the recognition that people see a more complex person.”
Complex, indeed! And so very, very deep. I really think ze’s on to something here: the pronoun hegemony has beaten “us” down for too long. I can only applaud the ODE’s sensitivity, and pledge to refer to Hill-Meyer as “ze” and “hir” as often as I possibly can. And I will, believe me.
