“Theydies and gentlethem”
— a friend just spotted this phrase online somewhere, reposted it, and I LOVE IT!
Yes, yes, and yes!
It is all inclusive; no one on the gender spectrum feels excluded or unacknowledged.
Whoever came up with this greeting has the undying gratitude of multitudes of individuals.
They certainly have mine.
I can handle being called he/him/his or they/them far more happily than feminine pronouns.
As a wordsmith, it’s hard for me to remember they/them/their referring to a single individual (unless the individual is unknown, as in “Hey, someone left their backpack behind!”). I’m doing my best to overcome it, but it’s hard. (In ages past, it was common to refer to individuals as they and them; it just fell out of use for hundreds of years.)
If I was Two-Spirit, I could readily accept they/them for myself but I’m really not. I’m a male raised by a society that deemed me female, so my two-spiritedness is definitely nurture-based, not nature.
And I’m grateful for parents who didn’t insist that I wear girls’ clothing unless a dress code was mandated by school or church (which, during my upbringing, it was). I was never in a dress or a skirt unless I had to be. I HATED them!
I was so happy when pantsuits came along, although even they weren’t sufficiently unisex (masculine) to make me feel seen for who I actually was…
I want to start using theydies and gentlethems whenever possible. They sound like a soft place to fall, like falling backward into plushy pillows or a thick bed of straw or flowers. They aren’t smarmy (“ingratiating and wheedling in a way that is perceived as insincere or excessive”). They’re lovely!
I’m convinced they are perfect expressions of equity and inclusiveness.
All hail #theydiesandgentlethem!!!
Gender-neutral greetings are egalitarian. I like that!
