A gender neutral title is a title that does not indicate the gender identity, whatever it may be, of the person being formally addressed. Honorifics are used in situations when it is inappropriate to refer to someone only by their first or last name, such as when addressing a letter, or when introducing the person to others. By comparison, the traditional honorifics of Miss, Mrs, Ms and Mr all indicate the binary gender of the individual.

These titles are used to avoid specifying gender for:

  • persons who wish not to indicate a gender (binary or otherwise)
  • persons for whom the gender is not known
  • persons whose biological sex is not on the gender binary (intersex)
  • persons whose gender identity does not fit the gender binary[1]

Activists, supporters and groups such as the Trans Educators Network, The Trevor Project, and GLAAD are working toward awareness and acceptance of alternative honorifics, including Mx.[2][3]

Human languages

Global overview

Certain whole languages have near complete or vigorous use of gender-neutral titles in their most common forms, which in some languages may be more than one of their forms.[4]

European originated languages

Frauenknecht et al. at die Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt published a 2021 study in the Journal for EuroLinguistiX which rated 10 current human languages for only 10 job titles regarding "Gender-Inclusive Job Titles", since job titles can in most languages be used directly as titles for individuals or groups using various grammatical methods by language. Compared were Swedish, Finnish, Russian, Slovenian, Italian, Spanish, UK English, French, German and Hungarian in order of tabling. This team found using several rank analysis systems that the trio of Swedish, Finnish and Hungarian had gender-neutral titles for all 10 jobs, UK English was close, then Russian. None of this sample of European languages fell in middle ratings. German, Romance languages (Italian, Spanish, French) and as well as Slovenian scored very low.[5]

English language

History

Origins

"Mx" was first used in print in 1977, and it is unknown whether there was spoken usage before that.[1] There is some confusion surrounding when Mx became a common way for persons to prefer to be addressed, however, there have been numerous cases of Mx in print from 1977 up until the early 2000s, when usage became more popular.[6] The Oxford and Merriam-Webster English dictionaries added Mx in 2015 and 2016, respectively.[1][7]

United Nations 2020 lexicon

On May 18, 2020, the United Nations' UN Women organization, itself a gender-named and gender-concerned caucus, published a lexicon of recommended English language gender-neutral titles and group category names. Most of the merely 12 items are in enough current usage in English to be familiar. However, there was swift negative feedback on a few terms which, while ungendered, posed other social problems and were not substitutes for the words they sought to replace in all cases of usage. Especially replacing 'landlord' with 'owner', which might satisfy some usages regarding real estate ownership, but is not well used when relationship with renters or others is what is sought in conveyance, as opting instead of 'Hi, this is Mary, my landlord' to say "Hi, this is Mary, my owner" implies that "owner" might be a relationship between the real estate owner and in this case, yourself, which implies 'slavery' or 'human trafficking'.[8]

Titles in use or proposed for common use (alphabetical order)

Ind stands for individual.[9]

M is the first letter of most gendered titles, both masculine and feminine. The title "M" simply removes the following letters that would designate gender.[9]

Misc stands for miscellaneous.[10]

Mre, is short for the word "mystery".[9]

Msr is a combination of "Miss", a feminine title, and "Sir", which is typically masculine.[9]

Mx is a title commonly used by non-binary people as well as those who do not identify with the gender binary, and first appeared in print in the 1970s.[11][12] The "x" is intended to stand as a wildcard character, and does not imply a "mixed" gender. Pronunciation of "Mx" is not yet standardized; it is frequently pronounced "mix" but sometimes with a schwa as "məx", or even as "em-ex".

Pr is short for the word "person", pronounced "per".[9]

Professional and military titles

In many cases, gender-non-conforming individuals have used professional titles such as Captain, Doctor, or Coach to avoid gendered titles.[13] This practice is seen in the media, frequently in the case of women attempting to avoid the discrimination associated with femininity in professional settings.[14]

Dr, referring to one who has obtained a PhD, MD, or other doctorate-level degree. While not available for all, many non-binary people who have achieved such schooling prefer to use this title as it does not inherently indicate any one gender.[13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "A Gender-Neutral Honorific". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  2. ↑ Savage, Rachel (2021-01-21). "White House website adds gender-neutral pronouns as Biden meets LGBT+ demands". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  3. ↑ "Ms., Mr., or Mx.? Nonbinary teachers embrace gender-neutral honorific". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  4. ↑ Berger, Miriam (15 December 2019). "A guide to how gender-neutral language is developing around the world". The Washington Post. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  5. ↑ Frauenknecht, Lisa Marie. "Gender-Inclusive Job Titles and Gender Gap in Ten European Countries" (PDF). Katholische Universität Eichstätt. 12 Journal for EuroLinguistiX. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  6. ↑ themself, Nat (2014-08-28). "When was the Mx gender-inclusive title created?". Practical Androgyny. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  7. ↑ "Gender-Neutral Title Mx Added to Oxford English Dictionary". www.out.com. 2015-08-27. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  8. ↑ Shaw, Adam. "UN takes heat for bizarre 'gender neutral' language code". Fox News. Fox News. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Gender Neutral Titles and Why They Matter | Equality Institute - Empower Your Team to Lead With Inclusion". Equality Institute. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  10. ↑ Orley, Elizabeth (September 3, 2021). "Honorifics and Gender Neutral Alternatives". littlemindbooks.com. Little Mind Books. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  11. ↑ "Now pick Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms . . . or Mx for no specific gender". The Sunday Times. 3 May 2015. Archived from the original on June 6, 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  12. ↑ Olivia Goldhill (11 May 2015). "What's it like to be a Mx?". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  13. 1 2 Ubom, A.E.; Adeyemo, A.; Adesunkanmi, A.O. (February 2022). "We Asked the Experts: Use of Gendered Titles by Surgeons—A Boon or Bane?". World Journal of Surgery. 46: 337–338. doi:10.1007/s00268-021-06349-0. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  14. ↑ Nelson, Audrey (4 January 2021). "Gendered Recognition of Titles". Psychology Today. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
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