that passage in fernando pessoa's book of disquiet where he makes light of the gender controversy.
84 "lets suppose there's a girl with masculine gestures. an ordinary human creature will say, 'that girl acts like a boy.' another ordinary human creature, with some awareness that to speak is to tell, will say, 'that girl is a boy.' yet another, equally aware of the duties of expression, but inspired by a fondness for concision ( which is the sensual delight of thought ), will say, 'that boy.' i'll say, 'she's a boy', violating one of the basic rules of grammar — that pronouns must agree in gender and number with the nouns they refer to. and i'll have spoken correctly; i'll have spoken absolutely, photographically, outside the norm, the accepted, the insiped. i won't have spoken, i'll have told."
fernando pessoa, book of disquiet. made in to english by richard zenith.
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