Request to share pronouns

"My pronouns are 'She'Ra and He'Man"

No one should feel they have to conform to an unrealistic imposition - with all of its wider implications; and certainly not someone in a senior role. They set the standard. Integrity is important.

“My chromosomes are XX”

You could say something along the lines of:

" I'm sorry this is just not my thing, but you can use any pronouns for me you feel comfortable with"

I'm sorry you are having your time wasted by this absolute bollocks, OP. As a senior professional they should know you have other things to do.

It was once suggested to me that I should also include pronouns in my signatures. I did, adding "It/It/Itself" as my pronoun. I removed it the following day and, unsurprisingly, they never bothered me after that.

In your situation - unless the 'feedback' you received was formal and a direct instruction, I'd do or say nothing that you were not planning to do/say before.

But she doesn’t want to so why should she ?
How does it make anyone’s day easier?

This reminds me of when my babies were small and I kept getting told (in the very Catholic country where I live) that I should have them baptised because “if you don’t believe, it’s just water,” (=it does no harm) and it would make catholics/traditionalists more comfortable. It was astonishing to me how these people thought I should be prepared to set aside my own beliefs to accommodate their beliefs.

It's called "gender stereotype threat". Most of it the research is a few years old now. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2014.10.002

I am GC but a coward, I think I'd just say something like:

"Hi I'm Jane Smith, I'm the head of marketing, and you can use whatever pronouns you feel are appropriate"

Ask can you share your religion instead - it’s another protected characteristic .
‘Im Sarah and I’m a Christian’

Be difficult, and stand up for what you know to be right. If you as a senior member of this organisation can't do that, what hope is there for the juniors who feel the same way as you do.

you say that you are 'very senior' that usually means c-suite / director level.
If so, then part of your role is to set the tone for the business. Society needs businesses to play their role in winding back the damage being caused by all of the lies that have been propagated over the years - pronouns, as has been mentioned many times on here are not a fluffy neutral 'be-kind' thing to do - they are an attempted at compelled language / coercive behaviour to force people into playing that game that believes you can be any sex you wish. Your playing that game is to support the lies being told.

The SC judgement has clarified that we have male and female and that you can not change sex. If I were in the very senior role you have I would be using that to put out a statement along the lines of:

• the SC judgement has confirmed that there are only men and women, and that it is not possible to change sex.
• As an organisation we comply with the law and will be reflecting this in our internal policies
• All staff will be referred to as their natal sex for accuracy.
• For anyone who finds this difficult or distressing then we have made arrangements for time with xyz psychological service who will support you through the challenges associated with accepting the law as confirmed by the SC judgement
• At no point will be accept any form of discrimination in this company on any basis - no favouritism for those who have blue eyes / red hair / large noses / specific religious beliefs etc. - we allow all staff to be as individual as they like, have any legal interest they wish to follow and we celebrate the uniqueness and diversity this brings in our company.

And squash it in its tracks - you can't be sued for being in compliance with the SC judgement - and discrimination doesn't mean what many TRAs claim it does...

Put it to bed for once and for all.

I would simply ignore it and introduce yourself by name and role as you normally would.

it is unreasonable to ask you to carry out a practice you don’t believe in to make others feel more comfortable. Nobody would ask you to wear a hijab to make hijabi women feel
more comfortable wearing theirs to work. If people want to follow an ideological belief system they need to put on their big girl/ boy pants and do so without everyone else having to join in.

I think it's even more important to create a space where people who don't want to share pronouns don't feel forced to, so your senior position is best used to demonstrate that it's a free choice.

Keep ignoring any request to share pronouns. Don't say anything about it. Make it so that it's fine for anyone else who wants to opt out can do so. If anyone challenges you either publicly or privately, say "forcing people to declare pronouns when they choose not to is totally inappropriate, it's a personal decision and I am absolutely committed to keeping this place safe for anyone who doesn't want to make a declaration on this publicly, so I choose not to in order to communicate to everyone that they have every right to make that choice"

There is no shortage of people willing to demonstrate pronoun-declaration. Your leadership isn't needed there.

At work we were all invited to include ‘our pronouns’ in our email signatures - I have ignored the request partly because it’s a linguistic nonsense. The pronouns I use about myself are I, me, my - I can’t force other people to refer to me in any prescribed way as I can’t control other people’s perception of me. I would be surprised if someone thought I was male instead of female but not particularly bothered. The pronouns I use when addressing someone else are you and your - she and he are only used when talking about someone in the third person which would be incredibly rude if they’re in the meeting with you 🤷‍♀️

Well they are THE most marginalised, victimised and every other -ised on the planet you know, how can you have possibly forgotten that?? It could be LITERAL genocide to get it wrong 😉

I really like this. I haven’t heard of it before so off to google more…

No, thank you.

"Pronouns are so 2018. We should get down with the kids of Gen Alpha who are rejecting this nonsense in 2025 and welcome them into the workplace too".

It's quite concerning that out of the many points people have made the only one you seem to care about is the one that might be negative for trans people.

Not really.

That person's sexuality isn't obvious, they ABSOLUTELY MUST share their preferences.

Just say that “your” pronouns are as per the rules of the English language. After all, that’s what all “their” pronouns are as well, whatever they might think.

(People don’t own pronouns, hence the scare quotes.)

I refuse to share pronouns. If ever asked i say that research has shown use of pronouns in the workplace is detrimental to women's professional status. I've never been asked for the research which is lucky as it is out there but I've no idea now what it was called.

And their political allegiances.

@GenderRealistBloke - you make a fair point that I hadn’t considered.