Using it as a pronoun...

[arianne]

I'm writing a story about a shapeshifter who is genderless but can take on the shapes of men and women as he/she/it chooses. I've been using the pronoun it to refer to the shapeshifter, but I was wondering if this is a good idea? Should I stick to it, or use he and she  as the shapeshifter's outer shape changes?

[Shecky]

Stick with "it" until/unless the shapeshifter starts self-identifying as one gender. I mean, your first sentence does say, "a shapeshifter who is genderless." Alternately, if you're using third-person or a narrator who is observing the shapeshifter and not aware of its nature, you could use the visually obvious gender.

[meg_evonne]

Stick with "it" until/unless the shapeshifter starts self-identifying as one gender. I mean, your first sentence does say, "a shapeshifter who is genderless." Alternately, if you're using third-person or a narrator who is observing the shapeshifter and not aware of its nature, you could use the visually obvious gender.

OR, create a new pronoun of your own creation for your new world  for this genderless shapeshifter. It always implies an inaniment object to me. SHapeSHift - shsh? LOL  Anyone seen this done in something?

[Shecky]

OR, create a new pronoun of your own creation for your new world  for this genderless shapeshifter. It always implies an inaniment object to me. SHapeSHift - shsh? LOL  Anyone seen this done in something?

Joe Haldeman created multi/nongendered pronouns/articles for a particular time's society in The Forever War. To me, that's a real stumbling block to reading; I'd still stick to "it" until the shifter self-identifies as a gender.

[Dina]

I agree with Shecky. Most Shapeshifters I came across in reading or playing consider themselves male or female, so if the shapeshifter is telling "its" story, I would use "he" or "she" regardless of the visual look. But if it is truly genderless, "it" woud be accurate.
Also, think. The shapeshifter create all the aspects of the thing "it" is representing? Or really become a fully functional "he" or "she"?

[arianne]

The shapeshifter isn't the main character, but it is a quite important-ish supporting character. The story is told from the viewpoint of the main character (“I”) who is well aware of the genderlessness of the shapeshifter.

I was just thinking if it reads weird when he says, I raised its arm. It didn't seem to mind. Selene (tentative name of shapeshifter) said it was tired.

Particularly worried about that last one. It doesn't sound like the shapeshifter is talking about itself at all....

[Paynesgrey]

I recall that Peter David used "Hir" as the pronoun for a species that identified with both genders, you could go that route if it considers itself "all of the above" rather than "none of the above."  If the latter, then simplist to stick with "It."

[Gruud]

One way to possibly get beyond the unremitting dullness of continually typing "it" would be to instead use the pronoun "they".

Sure, it's only two more letters, but look how much more mysterious it seems.

Why is the author (or character) calling a singular creature they? Is there something we (the readers) don't know?

Is it because it hides a multiitude of "others" inside? Are there more than one of them skulking about?

 

[SunshineDuk]

Singular they is great. You do have a precedent of "it," though. In Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga, there's a bigendered character who uses it as its primary pronoun. It takes a page or two to get used to, but then you're fine.

If you do want to use gender-neutral pronouns, I recommend Spivak pronouns (e/em/eir).

~Duk

[Shecky]

Singular they is great. You do have a precedent of "it," though. In Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga, there's a bigendered character who uses it as its primary pronoun. It takes a page or two to get used to, but then you're fine.

If you do want to use gender-neutral pronouns, I recommend Spivak pronouns (e/em/eir).

~Duk

I'm still not a big fan of made-up pronouns (see above re: The Forever War); as a contemporary reader, I find myself taken a bit outside the story because it feels artificially imposed. And while some people say "they" works well because Shakespeare used it, it's an insufficient reason - there are a lot of usages in Shakespeare that have fallen out of the language... and "they" still feels plural to me, which is counter to the bigendered-but-single-self concept.

The real key is making it feel natural in the context, and that's purely a situational thing that depends on the writer, the text and the audience.

[Paynesgrey]

Yeah... I think that Creative Pronounery is mainly useful when your painting a cultural or racial image. 

(The race Peter David cooked up for his Excalibur must have been a wink at Bel Thorne and Beta Colony style government.  Their pronoun choice kept changing every time a government committee got together to "clarify" things.  At one point they tried to combine "she", "he" and "it" to be as inclusive as possible, and were really unhappy when they learned why their human friends wouldn't stop snickering until they changed it again.)

[hank the ancient]

I know that marvel comics got around this for a while with their gender-bending character Xavin, by having most of the other characters avoid pronoun use entirely and always refer to Xavin by Xavin's proper name. I still don't know if this was a clever sidestep or majorly distracting.

[meg_evonne]

I know that marvel comics got around this for a while with their gender-bending character Xavin, by having most of the other characters avoid pronoun use entirely and always refer to Xavin by Xavin's proper name. I still don't know if this was a clever sidestep or majorly distracting.

With careful editing and thoughtful sentence arrangement, especially given Selene isn't the main character, I applaud this route. It would mean more work for you, but less out-of-the-moment concern Shecky has and solves that once-I-got-used-to-it-by-page 3 problem, which for some readers they may never get to page 3 of it bothers them. As to the use of they. I can slide right over it in some works, but in others it irks me--so it must be the writer's sentence structure or usage that made it seem natural or unnatural.

If your character weren't in a consistent body and you purposely switched from day to day from sex to sex--just use the pronoun of the day? That might be far less jarring and would emphasize your shapeshifter's fluid character changes. Perhaps a combination of both these would work well?

[Figging Mint]

I know that marvel comics got around this for a while with their gender-bending character Xavin, by having most of the other characters avoid pronoun use entirely and always refer to Xavin by Xavin's proper name.

You mean kinda like we did with neuro.

[Dina]

Exactly what I was thinking ^
Good option