A simple way to explain to DH why he shouldn't* include pronouns on his email signature at work

On emails it can be useful if you have an ambiguous name, lots of unisex ones these days ... just saying

No issues at my work, no such silliness but my email has my title on it (Ms)

Read the Yogyakarta Principles www.oursplatform.org/resource/the-yogyakarta-principles-plus-10-yp10/ and suggest that he uses these to educate the organisation that requiring or encouraging the use of pronouns such that they become the default can be problematic for people who are struggling with their identity, not ready to come out as trans or cannot for cultural reasons. This is what I do. It makes it impossible for people to accuse you of transphobia.

FWIW I would steer hugely clear of anyone in a professional capacity that uses pronouns, and so would most friends and family that I've discussed this with.

It signals that you are on one side of an incredibly partisan/toxic/emotive political debate. It's unprofessional. It's sexist.

It is, to use an overused term, hugely 'cringe'.

Pronouns are actually transphobic, because it forces people to out themselves, and if you think about it you only ask someone what gender they are if you're unsure, the request is essentially "there are some people whose gender we don't know and we're asking them to state it in an email signature".

It isn't right for him to do because:

• such a declaration is inappropriate in the work-place (just as declaring your sexuality or your religion in every email would be).

• it is emphasising something (his sex) which does give him an advantage in the work place. So isn't being fair.

• it is going along with a system that is unfair to trans people who are not yet out and are not comfortable with asking people to use particular pronouns yet - nor to confirm the obvious ones.

• it is going along with a system that can cause prejudice and ill-feeling towards those who are gender-critical by exposing them in the work-place (or forcing them to pretend and go against what they believe in.)

I feel that it's a political statement, and that is inappropriate for individuals to make in the workplace.

It's also against Principle 6 of the Yogyakarta Principles, as it might make someone who is not ready to declare their pronouns feel pressured to do so if their entire team has pronouns in their bios they would stand out. (This is a good argument if you are in a workplace that has had Stonewall training.)

Suggest to him that it would be presumptuous on his part to assume anyone gives a rat's ass.

It's like 90% of people putting 'straight' in their bio with a few 'bi' and saying it's supporting gay people. How exactly?

Or people putting 'abled' there. How is that supporting people with disabilities?

Adding pronouns draws attention towards a feature (your sex / gender) which is entirely irrelevant to the quality of your work. But some people are judged at work if they are seen as female, so drawing attention to this will probably have bad effects. Other people don't want to label themselves as masculine or feminine, or may be uncomfortable with these labels so it is bad for them. In fact, the only people not harmed are - guess who - the men!

Because its woke rubbish...

Sorry also not helpful

At my job we got pressured to do this... I have Dr. As my title... When pressed for pronouns I just said "doctor"
And if someone is wanting to say "she".. I'm not the cats mother and they cab say "the doctor"
I now whistle the Dr who tune a lot at work..

I am preplanning my own wording to HR on this, and my current draft is

"Thank you for the invitation to add pronouns to my email signature. I will be declining this request, as I do not feel that my personal beliefs on this matter are relevant in the workplace. There is a broad range of beliefs, political and otherwise, which we are not asked to advertise our stance on, and gender ideology falls under that same umbrella for me. I would be happy to participate in any work based research collating the protected characteristics across the organisation for general company improvement (my understanding is however that gender is not included on this, rather biological sex). Regards"

The "kind" way is to point out that some colleagues may be trans but not yet ready to "come out" at work, so forcing pronoun use would be difficult for them.

Can't be accused of transphobia then.

A woman who wants to be a man but can’t due to an unsupportive family?

A man who is unsure of his identity and doesn’t want to be forced to decide?

A woman who transed when they were 18 and is now 40 and doesn’t want to be confronted with pronouns and memories every time they send an email?

There are so many, many reasons to not put pronouns in your email signature / bio etc.

One that is often not talked about is how women are treated much worse than men across the board, and that advertising your sex is damaging to women, and men who do it are cementing their privilege.

Also I think of my mum saying 'who's 'she', the cat's mother?', when 'he', especially when capitalised as 'He' literally means 'God'.

So assuming that your husband's intentions are to be more inclusive, tell him that it's actually really detrimental for his female colleagues for him to advertise his maleness.

I use preferred pronouns on my work email and have been told by a few people that when others do this, it makes them feel supported and accepted. It's a small thing, takes no effort at all, and for those who feel supported by this I'd say it's well worth it.
Maybe you could do an LGBTQ+awareness course?

Would he put his sexuality, disability/ability or similar in his email signature No? Why not?

"Do you want to come across as a knob?"

When I see anyone putting pronouns in their email signature I think, Knob.

Sorry, not helpful.

Don't believe in gender ideology. Same as I don't believe in astrology. I'm entitled to hold that belief.
The purpose of gender ideology is to diminish women's control over their boundaries.