Gender neutral language in Dutch: Difference between revisions

The Dutch language does not have any official gender-neutral pronouns, although [[nonbinary]] people have adopted other sets of pre-existing pronouns, as well as [[neopronouns]], to work around this issue. A survey by Transgender Netwerk Nederland (''Transgender Network Netherlands'') showed that '''hen / hen / hun''' ("they/them/theirs") is the most popular pronoun set, although other options suggested include ''die'' ("that/who") <ref>https://www.transgendernetwerk.nl/non-binair-voornaamwoord-uitslag/ [https://web.archive.org/web/20230520060910/https://www.transgendernetwerk.nl/non-binair-voornaamwoord-uitslag/ Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref>, making '''die / hen / hun'''. Alternatively, '''die / die / diens''' is also an option used. Various other inflections can also be replaced by the corresponding form of "die", depending on the individual's preferences and how natural the sentence sounds in the person's regiolect. For example, some might prefer '''die / hen / diens''' to distinguish the meaning of die and hen.

The pronoun "die" is also a normal pronoun in the dialects spoken in regions like Twente, de Achterhoek and Drenthe, though in some regions only referring to a "he". Sometimes "die" is even shortened to ['ie]. [https://www.mijnwoordenboek.nl/dialect/Twents]

The use of genderneutral pronouns is also increasingly adopted by certain progessive cis people, to increase usage with the goal of normalizing these words. Others could for example choose to use neutral pronouns on just anyone, sometimes with the exception of people who put pressure on the fact that they want to be called a he or she. This idea is generally not to assume that everyone is genderqueer, but rather to assume that genderneutral pronouns are norm and genderized pronouns are rather (becoming) archaic. This process is, however, slow, keeping in mind that genderneutral pronoun options are still not known to all citizens.

* '''Klein(tj)e.''' Literally "little one", neutral word for a very young child or young offspring.

-In psychology and healthcare, certain conditions between siblings are also called as e.g. "sibling[geweld]". [https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siblinggeweld] Therefore arguing that "'''sibling'''" can also be a Dutch noun.  

-Titi*

* '''Jullie/Allemaal/Mensen.''' Neutral way of calling multiple people instead of saying girls and/or guys.

* '''Auteur/Schrijver.''' Neutral words for schrijfster/schrijver (author.

* '''Verpleegkundige.''' Neutral word for verpleegster/verpleger (nurse).

=== Ethnicity ===

To accord ethnic names, it is considered most gender-nonconfirming to stick to the male version, as the female alternative versions are only ~40-50 years old now. However, some ethnic names like "Engelsman" contain the word "man", so it is considerd most genderneutral to take the a new version (Engelse). For all country origins, this works the same. Some countries that end in a vowel, like Aruba or Djibouti, are harder to pronounce when conjugated, so it is also common to say something like: "Ik kom uit... [land van geboorte]" (translated: "I'm from... [country of origin]"). Instead, use the same word for languages, such as: "Ik ben Duits" (translated: I am German). If you come from a country that uses multiple languages, you can most often use the conjugation in some form of '''Country + -s''', like: "Ik ben '''Zuid-Afrika'''''an'''''s'''). This will always be genderneutral as a standard.

|Indonees/Indonesiër  

Alternatively, an increase of manicipalities avoids the use of gendered honory titles altogether. The most common way of doing this is: "Beste K. Jansen" (Dear K. Jansen).   

In high schools, teachers are not allowed to confirm neo-genderneutral language as valid in CE (Centraal Examen) exams, since it is viewed as incorrect by the State. They can, however, still allow students to make use of this type of language, if at SE (School Examen) exams. This is a choice of their own, and are still legally not required to check it in favor of neo-genderneutral language.

In Elementary school, genderneutral pronouns are still not a part of the curriculum. Teachers have the option to teach, but are not required to. This is part of the reason why still a lot of Dutch speakers are not aware of genderneutral pronouns.     

In biology, the Dutch refer to 'man' and 'vrouw' (aka 'geslacht'; genus) to specifically state XY or XX chromosomes. Although genus is built out of ten different components (like facial hair, body structure, etc. NB: 11 when one counts gender), the State refers specifically to the chromosomes as an indicator for genus. This is similar to the English "use of "male" and "female". When talking about animals, we tend to use diminutives, like "mannetje" and "vrouwtje", just like the Dutch commonly differentiate animals on in different contexts (e.g. through words like "bek", "ras", "paren" and "poot"). NB: Using a diminutive for your partner is therefore also seen as something playful rather than seriousness.   

On official documents like passports, identification cards (IDs), driver's license and other official documents is the use of gender and genus a bit confusing to anyone. For example, IDs show as options for genus: 'M/V/X'. According to science, genus will never change with our modern-day knowledge, and thus would mean that people with XX will get assigned a 'V', XY will get an 'M' and people with any other natural variations of chromosomes will receive an 'X'.

But, whenever one has gone through a process of changing that letter, which is legally possible, their letter will now be matching their ''gender identity'', but still, the genus will not change. This is stated as confusing, and is critisized by many, since genus will never change. Debates on how to approach this linguistic issue is still in progress.