It's frustrating that I frequently get comments on my site from people who are mad about the use of "they" instead of he or she to describe unknown individuals.
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It's frustrating that I frequently get comments on my site from people who are mad about the use of "they" instead of he or she to describe unknown individuals.
The reason I use "they" in these cases has everything to do with the fact that I've been wrong on gender assumptions previously, and that attempting to divine someone's orientations from what they say or post is a fool's errand.
More to the point, a surprising (to me, anyway) number of English-speaking cybercriminals are born with one gender but identify with another. Some are transitioning to another gender, and some have already taken that step.
Also, for the kind of investigations I do, someone's gender is usually the least useful or interesting aspect of who they are in real life, because they are often involved in some crazy illegal stuff.
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garyreplied to BrianKrebs last edited by [email protected]
@briankrebs the whole pronoun thing is offensive bullshit essentially - disavow and focus on the facts
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@briankrebs And anyway, isn't "they" the _traditional_ third-person pronoun for unknown or ambiguous gender ("it" being reserved for "does not have a gender")? You'd think the people who'd complain about "pronouns" would be all about using the traditional forms...
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@briankrebs Trans (or whatever) people in the English speaking world generally don't have much in the way of job prospects, don't have much cash (they tend to get disowned or at least isolated from their family on top of not having good job prospects), and often look at the world from a very different perspective than the majority of the population. Many of them already have to go outside what's legal to get medical care so they've already got one hand in the extra-legal world. It's basically the means and motive to do exploitation work combined with a lack of alternatives. Want to see a reduction in cybercrime? Start addressing transphobia in the West.
I'm old and bitter, i've already gone through all those fights but i never felt it made sense to go black hat. If i were young and queer today, though? If i knew then what i know now about the direction my life was going to go? Logically, amorally, it would make a lot of sense.
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@briankrebs
Being sort of "neurodivergent" I sometimes struggle with the use of emoticons.
On a recent post I just wrote:
<insert appropriate emoticon>Let he among us who has mastered the Oxford dictionary and the elements of style cast the first stone
<insert appropriate emoticon> -
@briankrebs They has been used for ages to refer to people in a gender neutral manner, the trolls who are harassing you over your correct use of English are not worth your time.
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@briankrebs I'm with you... When I was growing up in the 80's and early 90's, I was taught in school that "he/him" could mean masculine or an unknown identity.
As long as the message is clear, I feel like it's my obligation to adjust to "they/them" for an unknown identity since it can now imply a masculine identity to others. I'm creating the confusion by being stubborn and hiding behind the defense of "That's how I was raised so..."
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Casey M Snyderreplied to BrianKrebs last edited by [email protected]
@briankrebs my English teacher in middle school chastised me for using "they" in place of a singular person. She insisted if I didn't use he or she, the only alternative was to use "it".
And, it also drove her batty whenever I started a sentence with "And".
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@tknarr @briankrebs Exactly this. Perhaps the problem is that people just don’t get taught such things, and it has fallen somewhat out of common speak, but it’s a valid use of “they” despite what people might believe otherwise.
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@briankrebs I love when authors wrong-foot me by introducing a character and then subverting my preconceptions with an unexpected gender. A female pilot, a male kindergarten teacher, yes, of course! But it jogs me and I appreciate it as someone who grew up with the default “he” and very stereotypical gender roles
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@briankrebs A shortfall of self-awareness and empathy, or an anger addiction, or politics and trolling.
Preferably responding with a “bless your heart” included.
Or perhaps the wisest course in this context, ignore them.
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@[email protected] some people take “be gay, do crime” very, very seriously.
