Alinor

It doesn’t though. They has been used for singular without knowing the gender for a long time.

I feel this is a false equivalency. Toys are easy, and you often know if the other person would like it or not, in which case you get them the toy, and not a gift card. The statment being made here is money vs gift cards, not money vs actual items.

The comparison is off. A better comparison would be:

“Here, kid. Here’s 50 buck to go to this restaurant I think you’d like” “Why not get me a gift card? / Thanks, but I dont like that restaurant. Thankfully I can spent it in others, whereas I wouldn’t be able to with a gift card”.