This is a great question, and I am proud of you for having the compassion to wonder how the person would like to be addressed rather than forcing your views of how they should be. My advice (I am a transsexual, so I know alot of visibly gender varient people), is if your unsure to simply not say anything, like you currently do. I can tell you that it hurts alot more to not get ma'am than to get sired. If it really looks like they are trying to look a different way but their voice is a little off give them the benefit of the doubt and use whatever would be most appropriate for how they appear.
For most people though, if they get ma'am or sir and it is wrong they will simply laugh it off and not worry about it.
2007-02-20 13:54:56
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answer #1
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answered by elvishbard 3
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This all depends - someone could look like both genders (androgynous, genderqueer, etc), but only identify as one. Or neither. It can be a tricky situation, because how someone looks might not give us a good indication of the pronoun we should use. I think if you're truly floundering and can't decide, use neither. Use gender-neutral language and avoid pronouns/gendered words. What's appropriate really differs from person to person, because two people who are androgynous could have completely different gender identities.
Instead of sir or ma'am, you could find out their first name, or just avoid gender all together. If you get to know a person more, you could ask what they prefer, but that can depend on how familiar you are with someone.
2007-02-20 10:59:50
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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I always wondered about someone who is hard to figure out, like, hey, is that a guy or a gal? Its not often, but sometimes it happens when a person looks fifty percent man and fifty percent woman, how sad to be unidentifiable, I wouldn't know which way to go with that one, like hey you, how about you change the channel and be a man or a woman, but if I like guys I might like the woman part and mess with the guy part on the fifty fifty person. I'm getting confused, so you guys quit trying to be female and you females, come on, it cannot work if you want to be a guy because you weren't born with that thing. Pop pop.
2007-02-20 11:35:45
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answer #3
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answered by Pink Honey 3
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im no longer gay yet ill do it besides (no offence guy) a million. Randy Orton 2. facet 3. Matt Hardy 4. AJ varieties 5. Jeff Hardy a million. Candice Michelle 2. Gail Kim 3. Barbie sparkling (Kelly Kelly) 4. Ashley Massarro 5. Melina Perez
2016-11-24 20:54:39
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answer #4
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answered by guarnieri 4
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I work at McDonalds, I do Drive-Thru sometimes, I just say good morning/afternoon/evening or hello, I don't address gender cause that could get you trouble.
2007-02-20 11:06:53
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answer #5
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answered by Anonymous
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WHATEVER YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH, UNTIL THEY TE
LL YOU OTHERWISE. ALOT OF TIMES PEOPLE CALL ME MA
M, AND THAT MAKES ME FEEL SO GOOD. IM TRYING TO LEA
RN EVERYTHING THAT I CAN TO HELP ME BE AND PAST AS
A WOMAN. SO THAT ONEDAY, I WILL BE ABLE TO LIVE MY L
IFE THAT WAY. I WOULDNT MIND IF I COULD FIND OUT WHA
T TO DO, TO MAKE MYSELF MORE OR COMPLTELY FEMALE
AND WOMAN IN EVERYWAY, INSIDE AND OUT. YOU JUST D
ONT KNOW HOW BLESSED THAT YOU ARE, THAT YOU DON
T HAVE TO GO THROUGH EVERYTHING THAT A MAN HAS TO
GO THROUGH, JUST TO BECOME A WOMAN? JUST BE THA
NKFUL THAT YOU ALREADY ARE THE COMPLETE WOMAN
THAT YOU ARE. IF I COULD, I WOULD GIVE MY LIFE TO CHA
NGE PLACES WITH YOU, WOMEN GOT THE BEST OF ALL W
ORLDS AND DONT EVEN KNOW HOW TO APPRECIATE,AND
BE THANKFUL FOR THE POWERFUL ROLE THAT GOD HAS
GIVEN TO YOU? DO YOU KNOW WHAT ITS LIKE FOR A WOM
AN BEING TRAPPED IN A MANS BODY? ARE YOU AWARE OF
THE ENDLESS PAIN, SUFFERING, AGONY, MENTAL AND PHY
SICAL STRAIN AND PRESSURE, TEARING AT YOUR INSIDES
DRAWING YOU TO THE LEVEL OF SUICIDE? ALL THIS BECA
USE YOU ARE NOT IN YOUR RIGHT BODY.
2007-02-20 11:20:38
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answer #6
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answered by Anonymous
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Generally you can get away with leaving out gender-specific words. When you absolutely can't avoid it, use some of the plurals that can double as gender-neutral singular words.
2007-02-20 14:24:18
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answer #7
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answered by carora13 6
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To me, the luckiest people on the planet have that dual gender or androgynous look about them...it s usually strongest while young.
I find that to be a very exotic look, a look that defuses peoples guard, makes people curious about you.
I envy people who have that look
2016-02-11 13:21:42
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answer #8
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answered by Porta 1
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Best to avoid using pronouns or gendered terms, and just go for a 'Pardon me', 'Excuse me', 'Hello', or something along those lines to get their attention.
Like someone else said, offering your name as introduction with the insinuation to get one as well often helps (although it might not be that great if the name is gender neutral!).
2007-02-20 11:01:54
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answer #9
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answered by Anonymous
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Offer your hand, shake, and introduce yourself. Hope you get a gender-specific name out of the exchange, and proceed.
2007-02-20 10:57:33
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answer #10
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answered by Doc Occam 7
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