Although gender neutral pronouns might seem like a moderen problem, it has been proposed for centuries. In 1808, Samuel Taylor Coleridge suggested repurposing ”it” and ”which” in order to avoid particularizing man or woman, or in order to express either sex indifferently.

Lynn Liben, a psychologist at Pennsylvania State University in the US, has studied the effects of gender-coded language – English weaves it in by the way of pronouns (she, his) but also identifying nouns (girl, uncle) and honorifics (Mr and Mrs) – for about 17 years. In a pair of studies conducted in preschool classrooms in the US in 2008 and 2010, Liben found that when teachers emphasise a gender divide in speech – like saying “good morning, boys and girls” – children adopt more intense stereotypes about what boys and girls are supposed to do, and become less likely to play with children of a different gender at recess.

At Globala Gymnasiet, a Swedish college, they identify with social constructivism, which means that they see gender as something constructed – not biologically contingent. So, how we behave has to do with socialisation, not biology.

Ella Wendt Höjer, 16, studies at Globala Gymnasiet, and said that most people in her school are so-called non-binary, which means they don’t identify as any gender. She said that there are also people who identify as a different gender than the one they “are born in”, and that this is something very common and something that people do not take any notice of. 

BACKGROUND