Inclusive (and not) uses of pronouns and honorifics in the British Press

This chapter discusses the use of pronouns and honorifics in the British press with reference to transgender people. The study considers articles produced by eight national newspapers between 2013 and 2015 and addresses a comparison between the popular and quality press. The study highlights that gender-neutral honorifics are rarely found in the press, and those few occurrences of the terms mainly refer to articles that explain the function of such terms. The study also shows that the singular they is used in similar contexts. As for feminine and masculine pronouns, the study highlights that newspaper have a tendency to use pronouns in an inconsistent way, following the person's biological sex and personal life narrative rather than the pronouns that best reflect the identifying gender of the individual.