Queering identity : an examination of multiple-pronoun use and gender expression

Abstract

1 online resource (iii, 80 pages) : colour charts, colour graphsIncludes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 69-71).Multiple-pronoun use, or using more than one set of personal pronouns in conjunction (e.g. she/they, he/they) is becoming a more and more common practice, yet it has not previously been analyzed or explained in an academic context. Through an online anonymous survey and semi-structured interviews, this research answers how and why multiple pronouns are used, and how they are perceived and understood by both multiple-pronoun users and single-pronoun users in an English-speaking, Eastern Canadian context. Findings show that multiple pronouns act as an index of queerness, communicate fluidity of identity, and challenge traditional gender norms. Attitudes towards multiple pronouns varied from attachment to apathy, and from acceptance to disapproval. This thesis argues that at the junction of language, gender, and identity, multiple pronouns are acting as a queering force that questions, challenges, and reimagines normative systems of gender attribution, pronoun use, and identity building