My protagonist has found herself in the presence of another alien species: - Here is a description of the alien, after this bit of typing that I am currently typing, but have now finished typing...now: - She knelt at the centre of the room. Her loose vest hung low on her shoulders revealing the willowy curve of her back and the undulating contour of vertebrae. Her skin had an unblemished, translucent quality, beneath which the pulmonary system was an intricate map of dark arteries, veins and capillaries extending out from the obsidian heart. She turned and watched Thally lazily. Her large eyes were as dark as the fathomless regions of space beneath a pale dome that curved to a peacock tail of hair. Her hair was of no distinct colour, appearing like the sheen of oil on water. Here is the problem, my earlier alien, who Thally described as "he", because he appeared he-ish, is biologically a female, and this alien, who Thally describes as "she" because she is she-ish, is, in fact, a hermaphrodite. So my "he" becomes a "she", and my "she" becomes a "he/she"/"it", I don't know any more. I can handle this confusion, but the real problem arises when Thally discovers (during a shower scene) that she is male; so "she" also becomes a "he". I'm confused.
Yup, she looks down, and there is a penis and testicles. It is as shocking for her as it seems to be to you.
The aliens can be its till proven otherwise. Thally's a she while she identifies as a she. If she realigns after her shower discovery us readers can realign alongside her.
"ze"? is that some PC nonsense? Nah, she needs a common pronoun, not some made-up crap to assuage the outrage of 0.01% of people. She is a she. Sorry, I was not having a go at you, but that term is just stupid.
It's an interesting dilemma. If a hermaphrodite does not identify with either sex there is no appropriate pronoun: 'it' feels disparaging. I think one would need to create a pronoun for the purpose. I don't see it as a PC thing.
I would be pretty alarmed if I took a shower and noticed I'd grown a doodle. I would call it what your MC thinks the alien is, until she is corrected.
I getcha. The problem is a lack of a sexless pronoun in English. In the absence of said pronoun, I'm not gonna play silly games. I made that up for comedy value, which, I know makes me an evil person, because these are not laughing matters. I did laugh, which makes me doubly evil. I laughed a lot. She is female, she does not have a cock and balls, she never did. She is, and will remain, female.
I was going to mention that she would probably notice before she got in the shower, but everything seems to be in order here.
Oh no, don't think you're off the hook yet. She still pictures the male alien as a female- vice versa, whatever; and has to find an appropriate pronoun for the hermaphrodite. I know you Aussies are not known for your tact, but try some here
Not known for my tact?! Well I never... If I were writing this, I would bring it up in dialogue. "I love your hair, beautiful alien woman," Thally said. "I'm a hermaphrodite," "Right you are! do you identify specifically as a male or female?" With, probably, more tact. Or you could avoid gender pronouns entirely, calling the alien by name (or species) once Thally discovers that it's not one or the other. To be honest this really is a spot of bother, huh?
Maybe you need you some forced exposition Oorrrrr, you could just keep that info in your head until there's an appropriate time to unveil it, if ever.
Well, considering they're aliens, maybe female aliens are the ones with the schlong and balls and the males are without them?! New twist!
Have Thally wonder to herself which gender/sex the other alien might be. Have her hesitant to assume what this one is, after embarrassing herself with her assumption last time. As for this specific piece, some clever sleight of hand and word rearrangement could solve the pronoun issue by never actually needing to use a pronoun: The stunning creature knelt at the centre of the room. Loose vest hanging low across slim shoulders revealed a willowy curved back with undulating vertebrae. Beneath unblemished, translucent skin, Thally could see the entire pulmonary system: an intricate map of dark arteries, veins and capillaries extending out from the obsidian heart. Just then, the stranger turned and met Thally's stare with eyes that were as dark as the fathomless regions of space. Its head was a pale dome that curved to a peacock tail of hair. Hair that was of no distinct colour, appearing like the sheen of oil on water. So I did use a pronoun after all. 'it'. I honestly think it's fine to say 'it'. It helps readers understand that not everything is as everything appears in this book; that a creature can be stunningly beautiful and yet that doesn't automatically denote a specific sex. ETA: Oil on water isn't an indistinct colour. Oil on water produces psychedelic rainbow patterns.
