Time confused some online readers by using the neo-pronouns “ey” and “eir” to refer to the author Maia Kobabe, author of “Gender Queer,” in a Wednesday article.
Commentators mocked the invented pronouns as confusing and narcissistic on Twitter and suggested Time was helpless to draw the line when it comes to using “preferred pronouns.” Kobabe rejects both traditional masculine and feminine pronouns, such as her and him, as well as gender-neutral pronouns like “they” and “them” which Kobabe also views as “gendered,” according to the Press Democrat of Santa Rosa, California.
“Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, explores eir process of coming out as nonbinary and asexual,” the Time article read. “TIME spoke with the author and illustrator about eir work, the efforts to restrict access to eir writing, and what ey make of the current cultural moment.” (RELATED: Mom Discovers Sexual Conversations Between Kids And Adults In LGBT Org’s Chatroom: REPORT)
Twitter users were quick to point out the pitfalls of major publications using neo-pronouns.
I’m certain that when TIME 1st decided to use “preferred pronouns” it justified it on grounds of kindness & respect. It didn’t occur to anyone that there was no stopping place; that their failure to put accuracy & the reader’s comprehension 1st meant they were now powerless 1/2 https://t.co/6wfq6Qs5HS
— Helen Joyce (@HJoyceGender) September 1, 2022
“I’m certain that when TIME 1st decided to use ‘preferred pronouns’ it justified it on grounds of kindness & respect,” author Helen Joyce wrote. “It didn’t occur to anyone that there was no stopping place; that their failure to put accuracy & the reader’s comprehension 1st meant they were now powerless to deny ANY ludicrous, narcissistic demand for control by a subject or interviewee over how they are referred to.”
“I mean, people are free to use whatever crazy pronouns they want for themselves, but the idea that everyone else is supposed to keep a pronouns spreadsheet based on the whims of every narcissistic weirdo seems unsustainable,” Daily Wire writer Frank Fleming wrote.
“We are ruled by malicious lunatics who have taken over society’s institutions,” Rod Dreher, senior editor at the American Conservative, wrote in response to the article.
did a cockney chimney sweep write this tweet? https://t.co/9I6GINfv2K
— T. Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) September 1, 2022
Some commentators suggested the neo-pronouns reminded them of various accents from the British Isles.
“Did a cockney chimney sweep write this tweet?” Washington Examiner columnist T. Becket Adams wrote.
Time and Kobabe did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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