Pronouns in D&D - How should gender be handled?

[Bedrockgames]

English needs a gender neutral pronoun! Until then I will use they.

English is a living language. We can make changes!

-Kcinlive

There have been several attempts to do so, they have just never caught on.

what is intesting to me is the poll is essentially split three ways (but not evenly). Four or five ways if you count the last two options on the poll. So expectations of readers are pretty divided it would seem.

 

[mythago]

P.S. The whole "P.C." thing is so goddamn silly.

It's often used in the same way that children use "IT'S NOT FAIR!" when asked to let somebody else have a turn, or to pick up their toys. That is, they're being asked to change what they're doing and mildly inconvenience themselves in order to treat other people fairly, and they don't like it - but it sounds so much better to pretend that it's a principled stand (for 'fairness' or 'free speech' or against 'groupthink' or 'orthodoxy') than to just say they don't wanna.

Re the generic masculine: it isn't actually a genderless masculine. If it were, then it wouldn't sound at all odd to say "Every ballerina must purchase his own toe shoes" or "Every new mother, after he gives birth, should breastfeed his child if possible." It's 'generic' because of the cultural view that the default person is male, with female being a deviation from that. Also, that it's acceptable to refer to women generically as 'he' but insulting and improper to refer to a man generically as 'she' - that is why, in traditional grammar, if you have a group of 100 women you would use a female pronoun, but introduce one man and suddenly you're supposed to use 'he'.

 

[Tallifer]

I teach my English students that "he" is perfectly acceptable as a pronoun of indeterminate gender, just as "mankind" means "humanity." I also of course point out that a growing number of people object to these traditional linguistic rules.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I've come to the conclusion I know how pronouns and gender in D&D should be handled -- from a distance, with a 10' pole.

 

[ClarenceInWonderland]

In writing at least, the subject “they” is still odd: “The DM first gives the players a description of the room. Then they indicate what monsters are present” (where “they” refers to the DM). Here there is real ambiguity as “they” could easily refer to the players.

Agreeing with some earlier posts, I think the easiest way out of this in a role-playing game context is, early on in the rulebook, to set up a group of players. Give the DM a male or female name and then use the appropriate pronoun throughout the rulebook. Try best to avoid needing a pronoun: “The DM first gives the players a description of the room, then indicates what monsters are present.” But there are still going to be places where a pronoun in necessary. As a linguist, I don’t like this technique as it’s a hack that doesn’t solve the issue, but if I were writing a gaming manual, the hack works well enough.

 

[Cadence]

I teach my English students that "he" is perfectly acceptable as a pronoun of indeterminate gender, just as "mankind" means "humanity." I also of course point out that a growing number of people object to these traditional linguistic rules.

All the posts of the Gettysburg Address popping up on FB today brings up the example of "all men are created equal". It seems like when it's quoted these days a lot of people want the "all men" in the original Declaration of Independence to be "mankind" in the sense of "humanity". Of course the writers at the time didn't even mean all males, let alone women.

There are a few interesting quotes on "man" and "mankind" at http://io9.com/5962243/think-twice-before-using-mankind-to-mean-all-humanity-say-scholars including the principle etymologist at the OED and some Old English scholars.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

As a former girlfriend once explained, she had no problem with the generic masculine because the entire country was a generic feminine. She saw the latter trumping the former.

 

[Dausuul]

As a former girlfriend once explained, she had no problem with the generic masculine because the entire country was a generic feminine. She saw the latter trumping the former.

In what country? Perhaps this is a common usage in Britain or Australia--I wouldn't know--but certainly not in the United States. Americans hardly ever refer to countries using gendered pronouns. And it's worth noting that of the two personifications of our country, the male one has virtually eclipsed the female. Everybody knows Uncle Sam. How many people have even heard of Columbia without the words "District of" attached?

 

[Bedrockgames]

In what country? Perhaps this is a common usage in Britain or Australia--I wouldn't know--but certainly not in the United States. Americans hardly ever refer to countries using gendered pronouns. And it's worth noting that of the two personifications of our country, the male one has virtually eclipsed the female. Everybody knows Uncle Sam. How many people have even heard of Columbia without the words "District of" attached?

In the US, I hear plenty of people refer to America as "she" but have never heard anyone use "he" in reference to the country. I would say I tend to think of the country as a she as well. I think this is probably what the poster had in mind.

 

[Cadence]

RE: America as she.

The lyrics to "God Bless America" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Ble...itional_lyrics and going even older with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_(name).