Exploring attitudes towards gender-neutral pronouns in Dutch: a qualitative study
Hanne Verhaegen (Universiteit Gent)
As gender-neutral pronouns gain visibility, they offer solutions to linguistic gaps that have long existed for referring to individuals outside the traditional binary. The Dutch Language Union has acknowledged the forms hen and die as gender-neutral pronouns in Dutch. For instance, “Sasha ging uit gisteren. Hen had een leuke tijd met hun vrienden.” (Sasha went out yesterday. They had a great time with their friends.) Additionally, these pronouns have been proposed as a suitable strategy for generic reference, such as in the sentence, “Als een persoon een nieuwe vaardigheid wil leren, dan moet die veel oefenen.” (If a person wants to learn a new skill, they should practice regularly.) While some embrace gender-neutral pronouns as a step toward greater inclusivity, others are critical of this language change.
In this study, we explore attitudes surrounding Dutch gender-neutral pronouns by analysing participants’ comments from three broader survey experiments that tested the comprehensibility and appreciation of Dutch gender-neutral pronouns. Participants (N = 1,359) were offered multiple opportunities to leave comments in open text boxes throughout the surveys. Although they were never explicitly asked to share their opinions on gender-neutral pronouns, several participants took the opportunity to do so. All comments that mentioned gender, pronominal strategy or gender-inclusive language were taken into account for the analysis. We identified 259 participants (mean age = 46.06, range: 18–86; 5 non-binary individuals, 132 women, and 122 men) who left one or more relevant comments.
We conducted a thematic analysis of the comments related to gender-inclusive language, using the guidelines by Braun & Clarke (2006, 2022). While the analysis was largely inductive, it was shaped by the following research questions: 1) What arguments for and against gender-neutral pronouns are spontaneously brought up by participants? 2) Are there varying opinions towards different gender-neutral pronouns? We will present the identified themes at Taal & Tongval 2024 and compare them to the four dimensions of criticism against gender-fair language outlined by Vergoossen et al. (2020) and the thematic analysis of attitudes towards both generic and nonbinary pronouns by Hekanaho (2020). The comparative perspective allows us to see whether arguments for and against gender-inclusive language are similar or different for different languages at different stages of language change.
We think that this qualitative approach is of particular value because attitudes towards gender-neutral pronouns should be considered and addressed when implementing gender-fair language strategies (Vergoossen et al. 2020). Identifying and understanding arguments both in favour and against gender-neutral pronouns can inform linguistic guidelines and help language policymakers.
References
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2022). Thematic analysis: A practical guide. SAGE.
Hekanaho, L. (2020). Generic and Nonbinary Pronouns: Usage, acceptability and attitudes. https://journal.fi/nm/article/view/107784
Vergoossen, H. P., Renström, E. A., Lindqvist, A., & Gustafsson Sendén, M. (2020). Four Dimensions of Criticism Against Gender-Fair Language. Sex Roles, 83(5–6), 328–337. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-019-01108-x