Gender Neutral Pronouns: An Engaged Study

This paper evaluates the state of public opinion on gender inclusive linguistic practice and non-binary pronominal usage through the collection of ethnographic data from reddit forums r/genderfluid and r/Nonbinary. It recognizes four distinct communities of thought which have been largely excluded from pre-existing literature devoted to this topic: gender queer advocates, gender queer critics, gender conforming allies, and politically motivated speakers. Unlike pre-existing scholarship dedicated to gender ideology and its relationship to linguistic practice, this paper explores and synthesizes opposing communities of thought in order to gather a greater, more comprehensive understanding of public opinion on gender neutrality and inclusivity through language use. Ultimately this paper contributes to scholarly discourse about the social construction of identity, gender ideology, and linguistic practice and advocates for a more holistic and grounded approach to anthropological research.