Kansas University Student Senate Votes to Ban ‘His/Her’ from Governing Document Because They’re ‘Microaggressions’By Katherine Timpf
The Kansas University student senate has voted to banish gender-specific pronouns such as “his/her” from its Rules and Regulations document because they’re “microaggressions” against the students who don’t use them.
To, you know, work toward stamping out oppression or something, the group will replace all of those hurtful “him/his”-es and “his/hers”-es with the much more sensitive and modern “they/them/their,” according to an article in the Lawrence Journal-World.
In case anyone might think (know) that “they/them/their” are often considered (are) plural and not singular pronouns, the group will add a disclaimer at the bottom explaining that they’re using them this way “to increase the inclusivity of Student Senate and prevent microaggressions gender pronouns pose to individuals who don’t use them.”
(So, basically, they’re doing it for social justice — a motive that, once declared, automatically makes the necessity of any initiative indisputable.)
It’s not clear if any “individuals who don’t use” gender-specific pronouns had actually reported that the existence of them in the document had been causing them distress, or if the student senate was just being preemptively heroic.
In any case, the bill’s primary author seems pretty darn proud:
“This is a key first step in making our campus more inclusive,” the student senator, Harrison Baker, told the Journal-World. “Hopefully this will be a catalyst to create discussions on campus and cause change to happen elsewhere.”
— Katherine Timpf is a reporter for National Review.
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