"It" Is Dehumanizing: Difference between revisions

* In ''[[Maximum Ride|The Angel Experiment]]'', Angel is very upset when the scientists experimenting on her continue to refer to her as "it".

* Inverted in ''[[Foundation]] and Earth'', where the genetically engineered hermaphroditic Solarians insist on being called "it" - since, after all, they are not half humans like us, but complete, perfect beings.

* The Laurie J. Marks' ''Children of Triad'' novels are an interesting case; in them, [[Fantastic Racism|certain members of the Walker community]] refer to the Aeyries as "it", due to their hermaphroditism. Most notable of these is the Walker Teksan, the [[Big Bad]] of the first book. However, it is mentioned somewhere in the books that the Aeyries wouldn't mind it if the Walkers weren't deliberately using the pronoun because they believe it is insulting. The H'ldat (the Aeyries' language) pronoun, 'id/idre', simply refers to something without gender - in essence, it means the ''exact same thing'' as the word "it"; the usage itself is what makes the word "it" dehumanizing.

* Averted by the Mrdini in the ''Talents'' series. They are a genderless species, and as such insist on being referred to as "it" in human language.