Hello underachievers!
Just before we get into the video,
I have a bunch of stuff to announce to promote,
so if you're not into that, you don't care...
Skip to this time code
and we'll get to the actual video there.
So, first things first,
my new EP, "My Brain After Therapy"
is out June 3rd
and you can buy vinyls,
and CDs,
and stickers,
and badges,
and t-shirts!
And I'm really excited.
The songs on there are the best songs I've written
and I hope you're excited for it too,
so the link is in the description for that as well.
Next, I'm going on tour in America!
The tour starts May 27th and finishes June 21st,
which is a lot of dates!
So I'm probably coming to a show near you.
If you are any age you can come to any of the shows,
apart from the LA and the Denver show.
They are both 16+,
but every other show is all ages, so anybody can come!
15 USD, it'll be the best time ever!
We'll have a great time!
And finally, I'm also going on tour in the UK in September.
We also have VIP tickets if you want to have a picture,
you want to have a bit of a chat,
you want a Q&A,
you want to get to the show early so you can get front row...
All those things are available with the VIP,
as well as a merch thing...
A bit of merch.
But yeah, those are all the announcements and the promotions.
I'm sorry!
Took too long,
but I'm not,
because you should have skipped them if you didn't want to,
you know, endure them.
So, you probably saw the title of this video
and you're a bit confused!
Me too, to be honest.
For some context, if you don't know me already
and I won't be saying this ever again,
I am a trans guy.
My pronouns are he/him.
Glad we got that out of the way!
But, you know, as a trans,
I feel like pronouns are very highly discussed nowadays.
And a lot of people are confused about them.
They don't quite understand.
They think that they don't have pronouns,
because they were born with the willy and they like their willy.
But I just thought this would be a fun video,
so let's get into it!
I learned about they/them pronouns when I was probably like, 13 or 14.
I actually thought I was non-binary for about a year,
so I used they/then pronoun--
They/them...
Uncut, Jamp.
But yeah, I use they/them pronouns myself.
It took me a lot longer and probably other people a lot longer
to realize that they were pronouns other than he, she and they.
I feel like some people are still not caught up with the "they".
So, to those people, I am sorry.
I'm not.
Now, let me get this started by saying:
I know that learning new things is confusing.
It's scary.
It's terrifying.
I, at first, did not understand they/them pronouns,
because I thought they were plural!
I thought you could only call a group of people they/them.
We know that one person can use they/them pronouns
and it works, it's grammatically correct,
and it's not just for non-binary people.
For instance,
you find a wallet on the floor and you think,
"oh, I'll pick that up!
"Someone must have lost their wallet.
"The one person whose wallet is--"
We get it, anyway...
I am, by no means, trying to give out the impression
that I know every single thing about the trans community.
I'm, by no means, trying to give out the impression
that I know much at all about neopronouns,
because I don't, at all.
I know very little about some of the pronouns that we're going to talk about today.
I don't know anybody who uses them, some of them,
but that's fine!
I thought it'd be a fun time to just learn together
and have a bit of fun,
because, you know,
as you guess,
this tier list, it is not objective.
We are rating pronouns.
There is no "objectively good" pronoun.
There's probably objectively bad ones.
The one-- The slur ones, probably.
I would assume.
I don't know, my brain immediately went to slurs, but--
It's just a bit of fun and, you know, I thought I would make a video about it.
I enjoy making stupid videos.
I feel like you got that vibe already.
This video is not here to make fun of neopronouns,
it's not to "debunk" them, or anything like that.
I personally could not give less of a [ ]
about what pronouns people choose to use.
Why would I give a [ ]?
If you give a [ ], maybe...
Maybe think about why.
Maybe think about that.
Also, sorry for all the disclaimers, and like, the longest intro ever,
but if I get anything wrong,
I am so down to like, listen and understand what I got wrong
and you can comment in the comment section,
and I will, you know...
We'll do that!
So, on to the tier list!
The tiers we are using today are:
"Supreme Pronoun",
this tier is reserved for the bestest pronouns ever.
Below that we have "Very Nice Pronoun Indeed",
those are reserved for the nice pronouns.
Below that we have...
"This is Certainly a Pronoun".
This is...
A silly video.
Below that, we have "What a Suck Pronoun Ugh"
and the bottom tier is "Bad".
Let's start with the most common pronouns.
We'll start with she/her,
usually used by women or trans feminine people
that don't identify all the way with women.
Non-binary people...
The she/her pronouns...
Used by gays, used by drag queens,
used by boats!
We call boats "she".
Used by guitars,
used by plants...
Used by-- So many people use these pronouns.
I used to use these pronouns.
The vibe right now that I'm getting from these pronouns towards myself...
Indifferent.
That does not mean that you should call me "she", by the way.
I just don't care about being misgendered, but--
These pronouns, she/her,
we're just gonna put she her in "Supreme Pronoun",
because I love women.
My mom uses she/her.
All my favorite girl friends use she/her.
My dad's dog Sadie uses she/her pronouns!
So, "Supreme Pronoun", of course.
Any pronoun that that dog uses gotta be at the top.
After that, we have he/him pronouns.
Commonly used by men or,
you know, trans masc people.
I feel like I don't need to explain this.
Lots of people use he/him pronouns, they're quite common.
Maybe even you use he/him pronouns.
I would put them in "Supreme Pronoun",
but I am not a fan of male supremacy and the patriarchy--
I'm joking.
It's just going to be "Supreme",
it's just... It's just got to be there.
Because I'm feeling different.
They're my pronouns.
So I can say, really?
I've never talked about pronouns this much in my life.
I'm usually not a fan.
After that, we have they/them pronouns.
Those are those are a bit spicy!
They're a little bit spicy!
Maybe you haven't known anybody that uses they/them pronouns.
They/them pronouns can be used by anybody.
I feel like the majority of people that use they/them pronouns are non-binary,
they don't identify with male or female.
Like I said earlier,
they are not exclusively used for groups of people.
I just think they/them is a great pronoun because,
you know, anybody could be they/them.
If you don't know the gender of somebody,
you can say they/them.
However, if somebody tells you that their pronouns are
he/him or she/her or ze/zir or anything else that isn't they/them
and you still call them they/them...
That's unnecessary, you don't need to do that!
But they/them,
pretty good pronouns!
Pretty versatile.
So, now on to the neopronouns
and we can do some learning together, OK?
Like I said, I know nothing.
I am a stupid boy.
So, next we have ey/em.
Ey/em.
And I did a bit of googling and this is what Google said:
"Ey/em neopronouns is a gender neutral pronoun set
"which can be used by anyone
"regardless of gender identity or expression".
So, anybody can use ey/em pronouns.
You could do that, if you want.
And there's actually a bit of history to it,
which is something that I did not really know about neopronouns,
and I think it's really interesting to know
that these pronouns have been around for probably longer
than a lot of the people that are watching this video.
So, learn your neopronoun history, OK?
So, "in 1975,
"Christine M. Elverson of Skokie, Illinois--"
That's probably pronounced wrong.
"Won a contest by the Chicago Association of Business Communicators
"to find replacement for 'she and he', 'him and her'
"and 'his and hers' ".
So, Christine was like,
"where are those replacement pronouns?"
"She created ey, em, and eir
"by dropping the 'th' from they, them, and their".
OK, so they're just like, "that makes so much sense".
You know what? Sometimes I read some of these pronouns
and I'm like, "where did they even come from?"
Like, I'm not gonna lie,
I'm like, "well, like, you're just coming up with words?
"That's entirely fine".
But I had no idea how they fit into like,
the grammar, like the vocabulary that I already had.
But that makes so much sense, and I don't know why I didn't think of that.
Of course, ey and em comes from they and them.
We love a bit of word history.
In terms of ey/em pronouns,
I think I know like, one person that uses them...?
Nobody that I have seen or spoken to in real life.
And I did not have any experience with calling people neopronouns in real life,
because nobody I know in real life uses them,
but that'd be interesting!
- How are ey?
- Ey is great.
- Ey is just over there playing with eir Game Boy.
- I love em...
Over there.
Difficult at first,
but even, to be honest, like, using they/them pronouns singular for me,
when I first started using them,
was difficult at first.
Because it felt so unnatural.
So maybe I'm just not used to using them.
So, ey/em,
I think I'm gonna put ey/em in "Supreme Pronoun",
because I think it's clever,
even though it's not.
It's probably obvious to most people.
I think it's clever that they came from they/them.
They're like...
They/them's child.
And we like they/them,
we love they them, so we gotta love ey/em.
So they're going in "Supreme Pronoun".
Congratulations, ey/em!
Next we have ze/zir.
Automatically ze/zir is going in "Supreme Pronoun".
I just love words that begin with "z".
It's very satisfying to say,
say it with me:
Ze/zir.
Great, I had the best time.
So, what are ze/zir pronouns about?
I don't know anyone that uses them either, so let's [ ] go!
"Ze/zir neopronouns are gender neutral pronouns
"and could be used by anyone regardless of gender identity or expression".
So you could use ey/em and ze/zir.
What I find interesting is that there are so many neopronouns
that could be used by literally anybody and it's so interesting to me like...
If you use any of these pronouns, by the way,
if you use ey/em or ze/zir,
or maybe other ones I'm gonna speak about,
why specifically did you choose them?
I have no idea what it feels like
to have the experience where like,
he, she or they do not feel representative
and I find it genuinely interesting like!
If you use any of these neopronouns,
could you comment why?
Like, specifically, what it was?
When you heard of them,
why you choose these ones instead of this?
Like, why would you do ze/zir instead of ey/em?
So, it says:
"Ze is pronounced the same way as xe.
"It was likely based on the German plural third person pronoun sie".
OK, we love history.
We love neopronoun history,
and that is also very interesting.
If ze/zir wasn't in "Supreme Pronoun" already,
because it sounds nice to say,
it would-- Be put in "Supreme Pronoun now.
"The first known case of ze being used is in 1997".
So, the ze/zir is older than I am,
and I'm older than all of you-- I'm not.
I'm not, a lot of you are older than me,
but that's old.
That's old.
So, next we have it/its pronouns.
And I know what you're thinking,
you're thinking, "hey don't call trans people its",
but some trans people want to be called it!
Some people choose those pronouns themselves.
And that's a completely fine thing to do.
Someone says, "my pronouns are it/its",
you should use them !
So, what Google says is that:
"It may be considered an example of dehuman pronouns for this exact reason.
"It has historically been used derogatorily
"against transgender and non-binary people
"and it is still sometimes used
"as an aggressive act of transphobia in the modern day".
Absolutely!
I've been called it/its all time!
But the issue is those are not my pronouns.
That's-- Well, that's more of an issue than that.
Transphobes love to dehumanize trans people.
And I got curious!
I was like, "a dehuman pronoun?
"There's more than one".
So, you know, I looked it up and it says:
"Dehuman pronouns is an umbrella term for all pronouns
"that can be seen as dehumanizing, anti-human, etc.
"As well as pronouns that are used because one isn't human,
"doesn't want to be human
"and/or doesn't want to use dehumanizing terms".
Some examples of dehuman pronouns are:
It/its,
thing/things...
What are those thing ones and thing two...
Dr. Seuss neopronoun king.
Voidself pronouns--
OK, so I have heard void gender and I did not know what that was.
I assume it's not having a gender, or a person--
Or not being-- I don't know.
Or there are people with no pronouns called "null pronominal",
so all those people saying they don't have pronouns.
Maybe they just use the neopronoun,
the human pronoun...
No pronouns.
I am sure Ben Shapiro or someone like that would identify with that.
So, apparently, people could use these pronouns
as to not confuse they/them with plural pronouns.
I guess that makes sense.
That's similar pronouns that we already talked about do that,
but these pronouns could also be used by people who live in countries
where their language does not have a gender-neutral pronoun.
So, instead of saying he, she, they don't have a they,
they could say "it".
I guess that makes sense!
And also, apparently, a lot of people who feel like
a disconnect from their body use these pronouns.
I actually know an example of someone that does use it/its pronouns
because there was a lot of abuse in, you know, the early years.
So like, people who don't feel connected to their body,
I guess they'd be fine with those pronouns,
if they so choose them.
It/its...
I would love to put them in "Supreme Pronoun",
but just because I've been called "it" a lot
and a lot of people use those pronouns for people just to dehumanize them,
I can't put it in "Supreme Pronoun.
I'll put it in "This is Certainly a Pronoun".
Or "Very Nice Pronoun...?
I would not say very nice,
but that's because of my own experience with the pronoun.
People who use these pronouns,
you are supreme, it's OK, but just for me, no.
So, next we have fae/faer pronouns,
which I have heard of!
Apparently, "fae/faer neopronouns are commonly used as non-themed--"
In brackets, "pleopronouns".
We will be looking at that in a sec.
"They may also be used as a nounself pronoun set
"associated with fae or fairies".
So, these are people that identify with fairies?
In like, an other kin way?
You use these pronouns? Comment below, help me out!
"The fae/faer pronoun set is frequently considered
"one of the earliest modern neopronoun sets
"and it's currently known as one of the most popular and common neopronoun sets".
Oh! I did not know that.
Where does the data from this come from?
I don't know...
I think-- These are screenshots,
but I'm pretty sure it's called like, pronouns.com, Pronoun Wiki,
but apparently, they're the most popular and common pronouns set.
I don't know, for the fact, that that's true,
but they were one of the earliest modern neopronoun set, that's cool!
So, this website mentioned pleopronouns.
So, "pleopronouns (or alternately, exopronouns)
"are non-themed neopronouns.
"They are neither nounself pronouns nor emojiself pronouns":
People use emojis as pronouns?
Is that like, an online thing
Because I feel like in person that would be kind of impossible.
What is a sentence like?
- Oh, they dropped their wallet.
You'd be like, "oh, emoji poop dropped emoji poop's wall--"
I don't know, that confuses me.
That's fine.
Do you use them in person?
That is a question I have.
"They are generally not based on an existing word, symbol or descriptor
"and are intended for both verbal and textual communication".
So, is textual communication, like the Internet, like, texts...
But back to fae/faer pronouns, we got controversies...
How are there pronoun controversies?
OK, sorry.
"In the late 2010s and early 2020s,
"a small controversy arose over who could use fae/faer pronouns.
"Some individuals asserted that fae/faer was exclusive
"to those of Celtic background and those who worked with the Fae.
"However, this is untrue for--"
I can't lie, guys.
I have no clue what that is about or where I stand politically,
so fae/faer...
I'm just gonna put it in "This is Certainly a Pronoun".
If you use them...
I think they sound badass, can't lie.
I love the word fae.
I'm scared to read it anywhere else.
So, we have per/pers pronouns.
I assume this comes from the word "person"?
Google, am I correct?
"Per/pers neopronouns is a gender-neutral pronoun
"inspired by the word 'person' ".
I am so smart.
- I am smart!
I am smart!
[...]
Sorry, I'm quoting 'The Simpsons'.
"The set can be used by anyone
"regardless of gender identity or expression".
Again, like ze/zir, like ey/em, like they/them.
"John Clark created person pronouns in a 1972 issue
"of the newsletter of the American Anthropo--"
"Anthropological..."
"The American Anthropological Association".
So, these per/pers pronouns have been around since 1972.
That's not older than my parents,
who are not that old, but that's old.
These pronouns were notably used in the 1976 novel
" 'Woman on the Edge of Time' by Marge Piercy".
That's cool!
Per/pers pronouns...
- So, I went over to per house and sat on per bed.
And had best time with pers.
I'll work on that one.
Per/pers pronouns...
I'm just gonna put it in "Very Nice Pronoun Indeed",
because it's confusing my brain with how to say it in a sentence...
And I think maybe that's just because I'm tired.
So, people who use those pronouns,
no hate.
Next we have xe/xir pronouns,
which sounds exactly the same as ze/zir pronouns,
but just with an "X".
And, apparently:
"This coining is affirmed by Mario Pei,
"who gave rickter credit in his 1978 book 'Weasel Words'.
"It first appears in a printed discussion
"from the mailing list of Autism Network International".
And that's all I could find!
But...
Words that start with "X", pretty cool.
Pretty cool!
So they have to go in "Supreme Pronouns".
They just got it!
And, lastly,
I know I'm not covering all neopronouns,
but I feel like I've covered a lot.
So, lastly we have bun/bunself.
"Bunnyself neopronouns is a gender neutral pronoun set
"inspired by the word 'bunny' ".
I could have guessed that.
I could have guessed that,
but I didn't, for some reason.
"Coined by Tumblr user Bonnibel Bubblegum in 2014,
"these pronouns can be used by anyone regardless of gender identity or expression".
This is a running theme, anyone can use these pronouns.
"These pronouns are commonly used by Rabbit Kin
"or bunny gendered individuals,
"but you don't have to identify as either of these to use the pronouns":
So, I'm not going to go deep into what Rabbit Kin is.
I think it's why people feel like, spiritually associated with animals...
Or plants, maybe...?
You know that video of that person going like,
"on all levels, but physical, I am a wolf".
- On all levels, except physical,
I am a wolf.
I think that person is a wolf, other kin.
I got bit by a bunny when I was younger,
so I'm reluctant to put this in anywhere other than "Bad".
I'm joking.
How do you use that in a sentence?
- Bun came over to my house
and bun sat on my bed
and they sat by bumself.
Bun, bun... Bomb? Not bomb pronouns.
I'm sorry for that.
I'm just gonna put it in "Supreme Pronouns"!
Because I made a tit of myself,
but yeah, that's, those-- Those are all the pronouns that exist.
If you don't use those pronouns, you are not valid.
I'm joking.
So, there we go folks!
There are 73 genders, but only 10 pronouns.
I'm joking!
But yeah, I learned a lot.
I did not know that there was like, a history to neopronouns.
I assumed they were all created on Tumblr, to be honest,
which some of them were and that's fine.
I learned something.
Hope you've learned something.
I know that so many people are going to see the title of this video
or watch this video and be like, "what...?
"The hell is Noah Finnce doing?
"Why doesn't he hate neopronoun users like I do?"
But, you know, a good few years ago I was not that accepting
of people that were not, you know, binary trans people,
people that were not just like, very clearly non-binary.
But to those people who will see the title and the thumbnail of this video and think,
"oh, screw that Noah Finnce guy!"
I say: "Why?"
I don't think anyone using bun pronouns is hurting anybody.
Just because I don't personally understand the experience
of wanting to use pronouns like that,
does not mean that we should [ ] on people who do.
But yeah, that's the end of the video!
Let me know what you would rate my pronouns!
Goodbye,
have a good day or don't.
See you later losers!
Punching in the face.
If you stayed this long,
it was a waste of your time.
Goodbye!