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This sounds like an awesome story! I'm confused by the use of 'their' instead of 'her' or 'him' though. Usually 'their' singular is only used in place of 'his or her' when talking about an unknown person who could be either male or female: ex. "the reader can buy this book at his or her (their) local book shop". At first I thought 'their' was being used as plural for Tashi and Katala, but it's no. So...I'm confused?
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The Tiger's Watch,
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Julia Ember
Hi Shade! Thanks for your question! Tashi is a genderfluid protagonist. Although they were born with a male body, they do not identify this way. Tashi is really adamant about being seen as a person, without the expectations of gender. They don't want to feel bound to a series of "shoulds" and want to express themself according to how they feel at the moment. Some of the ways their body is changing (Tashi is 16) also cause them anxiety, as Tashi wants to maintain their androgynous look.
Being misgendered and forced to change their appearance in order to hide is a source of conflict in the novel. It is not the central plot conflict, though.
Hope that clears it up!
Being misgendered and forced to change their appearance in order to hide is a source of conflict in the novel. It is not the central plot conflict, though.
Hope that clears it up!
Alice Moore
Shade, when I first encountered the use of singular "they" for nonbinary people, I found it jarring with my knowledge of grammar as well, but two things:
1) wanting to be respectful of other people's identities means going through a little discomfort to learn new habits sometimes, but it's worth it, right?
2) Think about when you are talking about someone when you don't actually know their gender - we use singular they in that case already, so it's not as much of a conflict with established grammar as it feels like at first.
It does take getting used to, new habits come with mistakes, but it's a good one to work on.
1) wanting to be respectful of other people's identities means going through a little discomfort to learn new habits sometimes, but it's worth it, right?
2) Think about when you are talking about someone when you don't actually know their gender - we use singular they in that case already, so it's not as much of a conflict with established grammar as it feels like at first.
It does take getting used to, new habits come with mistakes, but it's a good one to work on.
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