epicene: having characteristics of both sexes or neither sex or some indeterminate sex or some unnamed or unutterable, some ingenious sex, some unforeseen or unorthodox sex that baffles some people, turns them wary, defensive, awkwardly jocular, downright hostile & afraid
William Blake: to generalize is to be an idiot
 |
| Dana Levin |
from Dana Levin’s essay “Who Is Who: Pronouns, Gender, and Merging Selves” @ Los Angeles Review of Books:
the
use of “they,” “their,” and “them” to refer to those of
unknown gender has always been a common feature of English,
especially when spoken aloud. This is exactly why, Bodine explains,
two centuries of attempts to teach and legislate it away has largely
failed — except, perhaps, in the red-lined realms of English
Composition. . . .
our
average ancestral grammarian was not generous. He was an ordinary
sexist with control issues, if we want to psychoanalyze the amount of
energy, outrage and certitude he and his brethren put into the
proscription against “he or she” and singular “they.” . . .
perhaps
the common use of singular “they” suggested that the language
(and hence the mind) had a kind of intuition: that self is multiple.
. . .
many
Victorian grammar hounds were on the hunt for it . . . an epicene, or
bisexual pronoun, a linguistic gem of power from a logoshangri-la. .
. .
other
languages had gender neutral pronouns:
Standard Bengali, Estonian, Hungarian, and other Uralic languages,
Nahuatl (indigenous language of Central Mexico), Indonesian and
Mandarin amongst the crew. “The Finnish language does not support
gender-specific pronouns,” states Wiki . . .
Still
Do I Keep My Look, My Identity
Each
body has its art, its precious prescribed
Pose,
that even in passion’s droll contortions, waltzes,
Or
push of pain — is its, and nothing else’s.
Each
body has its pose. No other stock
That
is irrevocable, perpetual
And
its to keep. In castle, or in shack.
With
rags or robes. Through good, nothing, or ill.
And
even in death, a body, like no other
On
any hill or plain or crawling cot
Or
gentle for the lilyless hasty pall
(Having
twisted, gagged, and then sweet-ceased to bother),
Shows
the old personal art, the look. Show what
It
showed at baseball. What it showed in school.
 |
| Miriam & Esther, siblings |
these poems:
Joseph
Spece: "Among
Elks"
Amy
Beeder: "Captain
Haddock vs. the PTA"
Malachi
Black: "Insomnia
& So On"
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