Pronouns
What are your preferred pronouns?
Why, thank you for asking!
I prefer xe/xyr or ze/zyr pronouns. Either pair works equally well - use whichever feels right in the moment!
For possessive pronouns I like xys or zys
Here's an example sentence: "I met xyr at xys house and xe drove me to the concert"
How do you pronounce them?
The 'X' and 'Z' can both be pronounced /z/, like the 'Z' in 'Zebra'
If you want to do something fancy to distinguish the consonants, for instance to use /d͡z/ for 'Z' and /x/ for 'X,' I support that as well!
'Xe' and 'Ze' rhyme with 'He'
'Xyr' and 'Zyr' rhyme with 'Her'
'Xys' and 'Zys' rhyme with 'His'
Why not use they/them?
Grammatical Number
In English, they/them can be used to refer to either one person or multiple people. This can lead to ambiguity
Consider this sentence: "Kyle went with Beechy to the concert. When they came back, their fingernails were painted neon colors." Did they both come back, or just Kyle? Whose fingernails were painted?
Now try this one: "Kyle went with Beechy to the concert. When they came back, zys fingernails were painted neon colors." To me, this more clearly implies that both Beechy and Kyle came back, but that it's Kyle's fingernails that we're talking about
Subjective Feelings of Humanization
Additionally, to me, xe/xyr/ze/zyr pronouns feel more humanizing than they/them. For whatever reason, xe/xyr/ze/zyr pronouns make me feel more like a definite person and less like an 'it' than they/them
I feel the need to note that I have had one dear friend who prefers it pronouns and I do not mean to diminish those who prefer them. What I mean to say is that on the spectrum of feeling between 'it' and 'he/she,' 'they' feels somewhere in the middle and 'xe/ze' feels at home right there with 'he/she'
Why both xe/xyr and ze/zyr?
Reduced Ambiguity for Multiple Subjects
Having two options for pronouns can help make it clear who we're referring to when talking about more than one person
Consider this passage: "Beechy drove xys blue car to Kyle's concert. After the opening act, Kyle drove onstage in a jet black car, matching xys hair. By the end of the show, the power of Music had turned both xys car and xys hair rainbow colored!"
At the end of the show, whose car is rainbow colored? It's not completely clear
Now try this one: "Beechy drove xys blue car to Kyle's concert. After the opening act, Kyle drove onstage in a jet black car, matching zys hair. By the end of the show, the power of Music had turned both xys car and zys hair rainbow colored!"
With this wording, we clearly know that Beechy's car is the one that magically changed color
Duality
The idea of gender nonconformity to me represents the freedom to explore the wide reaches of possibility. Its nature is to set free, not to constrict
I enjoy the concept of gender fluidity. Having both xe/xyr and ze/zyr options both celebrates duality and provides a framework for the gender-fluid experience to flourish without the need to default to using traditional pronouns
Again, this is not to diminish those who prefer to fluctuate between he/him and she/her pronouns. On a personal note, before I decided on xe/xyr/ze/zyr pronouns I used to tell people that I don't mind what pronouns people use for me, but that I like it when they mix it up
I said this because I like both he/him and she/her pronouns (as well as others) and I enjoy being able to partake in one without forsaking the others. However, this resulted in most people just defaulting to he/him all the time, which kinda bummed me out. I decided to find suitable non-binary pronouns for friends to default to and finally landed on the delightful options described on this page!
