Pronouns are words that stand in place of a noun or a proper name. Common pronouns include I, you, we, she, they, and he.

Neopronouns are alternatives to traditional personal pronouns. Some like xe, ze, sie, and ey have some historical standing, but there are many coined in recent years that are variations of the above, or use a noun-self format. Example: cat/cats/catself.

Xenogenders (literally: alien genders) are defined as gender identities "that cannot be contained by human understandings of gender; more concerned with crafting other methods of gender categorization and hierarchy such as those relating to animals, plants, or other creatures/things."

One of the primary issues many take with neopronouns specifically is their lack of functionality. Pronouns in general exist to identify/refer to a person without using their name and convey basic information about them (re: gender). They serve a conventional purpose in everyday spoken language. When we de-simplify language or overcomplicate it by reinventing already conventional terminology, we stifle others' ability to interact with and understand basic identity, or reduce gender down to your interests or aesthetic - which gender is neither.

Including their lack of function, neopronouns further muddy the language barrier for non-native English speakers and those of us who struggle with reading and reading comprehension. These pronouns come with a number of spellings and conjugations that are not standardized in the English language, and often do not adhere to the rules of English grammar. This is counterintuitive at best and ableist at worst.

Further, emoji pronouns make matters even worse. Along with noun-self pronouns, emoji pronouns break gender down into a basket of poppy aesthetics - which gender is not. How does a person use emoji pronouns in offline spaces. and how does that work for people with a tenuous grip on English?

The reinvention of gender as an aesthetic, or framing it like an alien concept is transphobic and ableist. To paint autistic people as a group incapable of identifying social conventions is flagrantly insulting and in many ways infantilizing. Autistic people are perfectly capable of understanding gender and its social applications. To claim otherwise is wrong.

As for the transphobia, gender is not a garden. It's not an astral body. It's not your personal style choices or a flag to bear. Gender is a deep internal sense of self in relation to who you are. Identifying with catself/bunself/mushroomself/etc. is one step away from legitimizing the attack helicopter jokes that plague discussions on trans people. When we give creedence to people who claim their gender is an alien or a vampire, we deliegitimize the work trans people have done to credit themselves as legitimate.

Demanding the world call you by noun-centric pronouns paints nonbinary people as deranged social rejects who thing gender can be fruits or animals or an astral body. It falsely equates gender with aesthetics, delegitimizes the work trans people do to be taken seriously, and invites further mockery of trans identities. The same goes for every candy-colored micro identity label that is usually attached to these pronouns - and the people who list 10+ of those identities in their profiles.

It/its pronouns pose a similar issue. Many paint them as a reclamation of derogatory language/slurs but there is a fatal flaw in that argument. When we reclaim slurs, we do it for ourselves. A gay man who reclaims the f-slur generally uses it to describe himself. The same goes for many other slurs used against LGBT+ people. However, users of it/its invite the public to also reclaim and normalize using dehumanizing language for trans people because in demanding any kind of pronouns, you are asking the world to call you that. When swaths of trans people adopt it/its pronouns, it shows the world it is okay to use that language for trans people, and you're even welcome to do so.