A thematic analysis of attitudes towards English nonbinary pronouns
Open accessAbstract
The article provides a comprehensive overview of attitudes towards nonbinary pronouns, with the aim of better understanding why these pronouns are either accepted or rejected. Attitudes towards nonbinary they and the neopronouns ze and xe are explored with a thematic analysis of data derived from a larger online survey on pronouns (n = 1128). While the results demonstrate various polarized stances for both types of pronouns, the participants’ reactions highlight greater acceptance of and support for nonbinary they. In addition, the paper proposes that broader ideologies about gender are behind the participants’ overt reactions to nonbinary pronouns. Most notably, while some participants rejected the pronouns on the basis of a binary gender ideology, others viewed gender as a matter of self-identification, accepting any pronoun an individual chooses for themselves.
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Resistance to gender-inclusive language is partly rooted in the belief that gender is a fixed, binary, and essential category.
“This resistance is partly rooted in the belief that gender is a fixed, binary, and essential category and a desire to keep traditional gendered power structures intact in society (Douglas & Sutton, 2014; Hekanaho, 2022; Parks & Roberton, 2005).”
From A Sexist Language? Gender Differences in Attitudes and Use of Gender-Inclusive Pronouns (2025) · cites this paper as Hekanaho, 2022
Resistance to gender-inclusive language is partly rooted in a desire to keep traditional gendered power structures intact in society.
“This resistance is partly rooted in the belief that gender is a fixed, binary, and essential category and a desire to keep traditional gendered power structures intact in society (Douglas & Sutton, 2014; Hekanaho, 2022; Parks & Roberton, 2005).”
From A Sexist Language? Gender Differences in Attitudes and Use of Gender-Inclusive Pronouns (2025) · cites this paper as Hekanaho, 2022
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Using thematic analysis in psychology
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006) · Qualitative Research in Psychology · doi:10.1191/1478088706qp063oa · Cited by 194,414 · see citing works
The influence of linguistic and social attitudes on grammaticality judgments of singular ‘they’
Bradley, E. D. (2020) · Language Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.langsci.2020.101272 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
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Renström, E. A. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1507858 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
A Sexist Language? Gender Differences in Attitudes and Use of Gender-Inclusive Pronouns
Remsö, A., Bäck, H., & Renström, E. A. (2025) · Journal of Language and Social Psychology · doi:10.1177/0261927x251335305 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“This resistance is partly rooted in the belief that gender is a fi xed, binary, and essential category and a desire to keep traditional gendered power structures intact in society (Douglas & Sutton, 2014; Hekanaho, 2022; Parks & Roberton, 2005).”
- Authors
- Hekanaho, L.
- Affiliations
- University of Helsinki (FI)
- Corresponding author
- Hekanaho, Laura
- ORCID
- Hekanaho, Laura
- Venue
- Journal of Language and Sexuality
- Publisher
- John Benjamins Publishing Company
- Published
- 2022-08-04
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 190-216
- ISSN
- 2211-3770 (ISSN-L)
- 2211-3789
- OpenAlex
- W4289782215
- Cited by
- 28
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 7.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Locations
- Journal of Language and Sexuality (publishedVersion)
- Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender Studies in Language
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy
- Social Sciences › Linguistics and Language › Linguistic Variation and Morphology
- Keywords
- gender ideology, gender self-identification, English pronouns
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