Gender pronoun transposition or pronoun switching is the substitution of a gendered

personal pronoun Personal pronouns are pronouns that are associated primarily with a particular grammatical person – first person (as ''I''), second person (as ''you''), or third person (as ''he'', ''she'', ''it''). Personal pronouns may also take different f ...

for another gendered form, especially in the

LGBTQ community The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individu ...

. When used by gay and

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

men, this would entail using the pronoun ''she'' instead of ''he'', also known as she-ing. Some

lesbians A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homo ...

and queer women use he/him pronouns in a similar fashion. Often used in the British slang

Polari Polari () is a form of slang or Cant (language), cant historically used primarily in the United Kingdom by some actors, circus and fairground performers, professional wrestlers, merchant navy sailors, criminals and prostitutes, and particula ...

, as well as other forms of LGBTQ language around the world, she-ing has been evidenced across the centuries, both as a way to disguise the subject of one's discussions in public and as a form of endearment. It is often associated with camp and drag culture. She-ing has also been noted in Israel, Russia, Peru, the Philippines, Brazil, and South Africa.For more on usage in Brazil: Objects can also be referred to as ''she''.

References

LGBTQ slang Transgender culture Personal pronouns Gender transition {{slang-stub

See also

References