The gender identification movement has something to say about how we address each other in writing. Finding gender-neutral ways of referring to people is taking hold across many major segments of society, particularly the workplace. Referring to an individual with the traditionally standard plural they regardless of their sex or sexual has becoming the not-so new standard.
In formal writing, do we then eliminate Mr. or Ms. altogether and address people by their given name and surname, as in Dear Jia Liu or Dear Avinash Patel? I ask this at a time when I still meet people who insist on using Miss and Mrs. when referring to women; they have been out of touch with prevailing standards for a half-century! And what if people want to be referred to as she/her or even Mrs., just as others want to be referred to as they? I noted in a post earlier this year that these issues are evolving, so I continue to tell writers to stop looking for certainty in this area. Just be mindful and, above all, respectful of your readers.
I do not believe the matter is completely settled to the extent that subject-verb agreement remains a grammatical standard. But those who believe that proponents of gender identity merely compose a fringe group are wrong. If we do not want misgender our readers, keep reading up on the issue in countless online resources, and think before you address.
