By Soleil Paz
Staff Writer
Breaking news: Belinda Jenner, formerly known as Bruce Jenner, is transitioning between genders? Trans-Jenner?
Just kidding, this was breaking news almost two months ago, but the media has chewed it up so much that we’re still getting around to reporting it correctly. In fact, I have found a grand total of one online article that does not mislabel the situation. Or maybe that’s because most of the news outlets covering this are tabloids.
I was called on to write this article, after a very lengthy hiatus. The last opinion piece I wrote was something similar to this, urging people to “break the binary” that is gender norms. I make it hard for people to forget the kind of articles I am known for. The feminist killjoy returns.
As a disclaimer, I am not in any way an expert on the latest news from “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.” But when I was asked to write this article, I received a statement that was something to the effect of “he prefers female pronouns now.” You tried, god bless. And while I am significantly paraphrasing that, it is this kind of inconsistency that I always experience on the subject. Her name is Belinda. She is a she. Period.
It is worth mentioning that about a month and a half ago, another writer for The Chronicle came out with an opinion piece about this. They focused mostly on transgender professional athletes, but I am going for something bigger. The main thing that concerned me about the article is that it automatically assumed Jenner was male, when that was literally the only fact that everyone was unsure of.
At this point, I’ll bring in the disclaimer that the newspaper used in fine print at the bottom of the aforementioned article: “The Chronicle continues to use male pronouns because the person in question has not indicated they prefer otherwise.”
The way I interpret this, it’s basically saying, “Hey, we’re not sure which way to go, but it definitely has to be one way or the other, so…” Of course, my personal frustration with this is the fact that I had just made an effort to get people to break the binary, though I really can’t blame anyone for not reading my articles.
Belinda, and everyone else in the transgender community, frequently receive this kind of misgendering in the media. People don’t quite understand it yet. So let’s start small. Allow me to educate you on the pronoun “they.”
“They” is a perfectly acceptable, non-binary, singular third-person pronoun. In situations of uncertainty, it’s something to fall back on. I have had people resist me on this in the past as well. For the skeptics, “this person says they want to do this,” is correct grammar. I have also used the word with the same connotation throughout this article.
I do end up using “they” rather liberally. One of my friends is biologically female, but continues to dress in stereotypically male clothing. They have not felt the need to clarify or express their gender identity, so I believe I am not at liberty to assume either one. I make a conscious effort to use non-binary terms with them, and it is my hope that others start doing so as well.
Here’s something slightly out of left field: in the Philippines, our language lacks a distinctive third-person pronoun for each gender. English, as we all know, has he, she, and it. Tagalog only has one word to encompass the three of them—siya. Depending on the context, you could be talking about a girl, boy, or otherwise. This can cause some frequent confusion in conversation as to which “siya” someone is referring, but that also means we don’t get too caught up in gender unless it’s absolutely necessary.
It is for this reason that my friends often catch me horribly mixing up gender-specific pronouns when I try to think too fast, much to my embarrassment. And I suppose this is also why I find it incredibly easy to call someone by a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth.
I do realize it seems a bit counter-intuitive—eliminating gender so that you can pay more attention to it. But this is how I believe the story of Belinda Jenner should have been handled. The way my mind works, everyone starts as a “siya.” It’s hardwired that way, it’s how I grew up. As I get to know people, I start loading the word with the gender they prefer.
Realistically, people are not going to adopt this mindset overnight. I have only recently come to understand the concept of gender being separate from biological sex, and now I’m beginning to see just how much of the population is still learning.
We’re all in the process. All I ask from you is the effort.
