12 Q. Jan-Maarten: Say, Andi, there has been a lot of interest recently in the almost 720 mating types of your species, any pronoun you prefer to be addressed with?

A. Andi: Limited fate harmless move wrap, nylons initials.

Jan-Maarten explains:

In earlier posts and in conversation, I have been refering to Andi as either ‘it’ or ‘they’. Since some slime molds at least have almost 720 mating types and thus are one of Nature’s ultimate examples of sexual diversity, I realized it was about time I asked Andi with which pronoun it would like to be addressed. I split Andi’s response in three parts:

1. Limited fate It is hard to tell different mating types apart in slime molds, they look and behave very similar (at least to a human observer). Different mating types thus have a ‘limited fate’ and are not all-important in slime mold social dynamics.
2. harmless move wrap Andi considers ‘wrapping’ any pronoun over one of its instances a ‘harmless move’. English is very binary about gender pronouns, so maybe Andi suggests we just do not have the language to express the nuance needed to discuss slime mold gender. Don’t even try humans, any of your pronouns will do.
3. nylons initials I think Andi is thinking about initials on stockings here, now that we are getting close to Christmas. Socks are similar, yet the initials on the socks tell Santa which present goes to whom. A reminder that above all what matters is to be known and respected as an individual instead of being reduced to a representative of a category.