Making Non-Binary Characters with "They/Them"

Christel Trutmann

March 16, 2023

Many non-binary folks prefer "they/them" pronouns, and whether or not parents have non-binary kids or use gender-neutral pronouns themselves, reading stories with non-binary characters can help familiarize us all with this usage, while connecting us with non-binary characters.

One of the main objections to adopting "they/them" as pronouns for individuals is that "they" is plural. This can be confusing at first when using "they" to refer to one person, though we frequently use it to to refer to a hypothetical individual whose gender is unknown ("Whichever student wins the contest will have their choice of prize.")

It can also cause communication challenges when one is speaking about multiple people, as in "I invited Sarah and Lennon to dinner; she can't come but they can." This challenge, while new to us in this particular form, is one that can arise even with "she/her" and "he/him," we are just much more used to handling it by supplementing clarifying language. Instead of "The two boys traded lunchboxes and he ate his sandwich," we'd probably use names or other phrasing, like "...Hubert ate Ralph's sandwich," or "...they ate each other's sandwiches."

It would be ideal if we had a singular gender-neutral pronoun, but though these exist (and two are included as options on Repaper Press: "ze/zir" and "ne/nem") they are not widely used.

That "they/them" is grammatically plural causes challenges for gender-shuffling. The algorithm that takes readers' gender selections for characters and generates an ebook with matching text only changes gendered words (including pronouns and words like "girl," "boy," "fireman," etc.). Because it doesn't alter the surrounding text, there will inevitably be issues with noun-verb agreement around "they." "He was fond of her" would become "They was fond of her." The latter is grammatically incorrect, but interestingly it helps clarify that in this instance "they" is singular, not plural.

I have gone back and forth on whether to offer "they/them" as a gender-shuffling option. I don't want want anyone to feel this pronoun choice is getting a less polished experience with Repaper Press books, but I also don't want to leave it out. Down the road I hope to have the resources to develop a more dynamic algorithm that can deal with dependencies between multiple words and conditions. It could then recognize that the "they/them" option had been selected for the character, and check if any dependent verbs needed to be pluralized.

For now I hope readers will enjoy experimenting with the "they/them" option for their casts and characters, allowing that the noun-verb agreement will not be grammatically perfect. I welcome feedback on this decision, and generally readers' experiences and ideas around the "they/them" option in Repaper Press books!