Not totally related to feminism but a fascinating example of academic wokery

I thought it might be satire

One of my managers did refer to *her girls’

Partly because of the whole her girls as a phrase bit

And mainly because she would not hesitate to throw any one of us under the bus when necessary

I wonder what he thinks of "my friend".

Oh just fuck off. Not you OP. Him.

Even my staff depends on the context.
In a temp job I had once someone in another department had said something untrue about me and I very much appreciated my manager going all 'who's spreading rumours about my staff?'

If you're in a company in which the senior management is likely to refer to eg 'the R&D team', then having an R&D manager who refers to 'my team' - and who takes responsibility and flak, but not the all the credit! - is a very good thing for the people in that team.

This depends on whom he/she is talking to then. Speaking to a more senior manager "my team" might be defensible, but when talking to the group, "our" is definitely my preference. And certainly "my staff" does not have a nice ring.

It reminds me of the regular complaint that comes up on MN that a mil is calling a poster’s new child, ‘My baby’.

With possessions, my denotes ownership.

With people, it usually denotes relationships - a relation, an employee, a workmate.

Except with babies and slaves.

Sometimes I want to finish early and get a pot noodle

🤣

The most sensible response comes from a non-native speaker:

'My mother, my wife, my children, my students. I don’t think “my” in this context implies possession, to me it implies a relationship. It becomes even clearer when talking about “my employer”. But I’m not native, does this have connotations I’m unaware of?'

No, it doesn't. It's just that you're dealing with a bunch of idiots.

then having an R&D manager who refers to 'my team' - and who takes responsibility and flak, but not the all the credit! - is a very good thing for the people in that team

That’s virtually exactly what dh just said...if the team make a mistake its his fault

But I have to say that I don't like to hear managers refer to "my staff" because that does imply that they are there to serve the manager. "Our staff" or "our team" is better.

Again, it depends on the power dynamics. If you're in a company in which the senior management is likely to refer to eg 'the R&D team', then having an R&D manager who refers to 'my team' - and who takes responsibility and flak, but not the all the credit! - is a very good thing for the people in that team.

'Need to do better'. Oy.

It's like the conversations I have with the kids about the cats.
'Our cat...'
'She's not our cat! We don't own her. She owns us.'

Creation of pointless clunkier phrasing because he has gazed at his navel so hard that he has turned himself inside out.

I think it depends on context. I don't have an issue with "my student" or "my child" because these expressions are almost terms of art; they refer to relationships rather than possession. But I have to say that I don't like to hear managers refer to "my staff" because that does imply that they are there to serve the manager. "Our staff" or "our team" is better.

He's written a piece arising from this twitter spat. He does have a point that - perhaps historically more than now, though I'm not sure - PhD students can be used as cannon fodder for the advancement of senior academics. But it's the power structure which is the problem, not the mere use (or not) of 'my', which can be entirely benign. A professor who refers to a student by name or uses his suggestions "a PhD student in the/my group", or "a PhD student who I supervise/advise" could still be an exploitative egomaniac.

medium.com/@BMatB/my-language-barrier-da33e5f05e93

"IT'S NOT YOUR SUNDAY, IT'S GOD'S SUNDAY, HOW DARE YE"

That's a horribly monotheism-centric take on Sundays.

How about "the Sunday on which I happen to currently exist".

Unless I've missed it, this has not been posted yet: he's actually written a whole medium article on the subject now: t.co/gT22zrR84p?amp=1

On the upside: according to deductive logic, "my boss" is apparently just fine, seeing as he really does get his ideas from me [literally my job description - he's not horrible].

LOL at "You clearly don't linguistics, bro".

People who take themselves this seriously don't translate well into real life. It is almost a religious fervour: "My Sunday has been fine. You?"

"IT'S NOT YOUR SUNDAY, IT'S GOD'S SUNDAY, HOW DARE YE"

Ridicul-arse

Bet Ben is a mansplaining barrel of laughs at brew time in his department!
Oh sorry, 'the department in which he sits' .

I wish people who don't understand language would stop pontificating about language. I don't go teaching him subatomic physics or combover maintenance do I?

So, do I still get to say "my boss" then? I mean, in the one hand, he is ... ummm ... I mean, they are [I've never really asked about gender - clearly I should have not assumed on the basis of the fact that they have a beaed stubble] an individual in their own right and I don't own them. On the other hand, though, the power dynamics would clearly put me in the underdog [or under-trans-cat] position on this one.

I'm going to need a manual here!

Where do these people get the time for so much navel gazing. And they love to lecture everyone and police people's language.

They would make great citizens in a theocratic state. I suspect a lot of woke folk would enthusiastically sign up to be part of a Woke Religious Police force.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_religious_police

Islamic religious police is an official vice squad which enforces religious observance and public morality on behalf of national or regional authorities based on its interpretation of sharia. The practice is generally justified with reference to the doctrine of hisba, which is based on the Quranic injunction of enjoining good and forbidding wrong, and refers to the duty of Muslims to promote moral rectitude and intervene when another Muslim is acting wrongly.

It took him that long to realise that language matters? And that words have power to shape the world.......? It's like he's discovered the wheel.
'Man Made Language' came out in 1980.