Pronouns in work signatures- how do I stop it?

whereas i spent years signing off with Initial Lastname and did a quick check of emails before sending to remove all the "this was written by a woman" markers.

My email address has been initial & lastname for ever, and it often surprises people when they speak to me on the phone, or meet me for the first time, that I'm not a grumpy old man but a tattooed lady with candyfloss pink hair.

Make of that what you will, but unlike my she/her or Ms/Mrs or obviously female named colleagues, i was never second guessed on my competence.

Doesn’t matter, they shouldn’t be mentioning it at all, let alone asking for voluntary use.

Just don't do it. Others won't either. Just don't give this nonsense oxygen.

If you're asked why you've opted out (unlikely), say you don't feel it's necessary to draw attention to the fact that you're a woman/man in the workplace, "gender" is not relevant to email interactions, and you're surprised at the suggestion it would be.

Out-woke them basically.

I have spent a lifetime with people for who it is "all about me".

Sadly it can rub off on one.

My automatic reaction was to say you don’t need to do it and leave it at that. On the other hand, if it becomes a workplace culture,it might stop others referring to you as ‘they’ and ‘their’ if you haven’t made it explicit. Sorry – it’s really hard not to be part of a system, however new.

I put my pronouns on my signature, did it even before it became a 'thing'. Like some others before on this thread I was often mistaken for a man because of my name, the pronouns remove any confusion.
I don't think they are a big deal as long as it's not compulsory.

Not a soul from Engineering, Projects nor Finance added pronouns and viewed HR as the intellectual weak link of the company.

Which, to be fair, it probably is

Wow. Main character syndrome 😅

I actually haven't noticed your comment and had another PP in mind when I wrote mine.

I worked for an high tech engineering company where the HR department tried the pronoun thing. I didn’t think the workforce view of HR dept could drop any further but it did and they took marketing dept with them. Not a soul from Engineering, Projects nor Finance added pronouns and viewed HR as the intellectual weak link of the company.

Is this still a thing? After reading about the gender bias revealed when Martin Schneider and Nicole Hallberg swapped email accounts, I decided there was no reason whatsoever to draw attention to the fact I am female. I have a unisex name and am sometimes referred to as “he” (funnily enough by people misreading my name because my surname can also be a man’s name), but I am also totally unbothered.

I can only think of one person outside of HR that has pronouns in their email signature and they also have a unisex name, so I can only assume it matters to them how they are perceived and addressed. I’ve never met them in person so I don’t actually know their sex, but their sex has bugger all to do with the job we do so it’s not a big deal.

My wonderful previous boss, a middle aged woman, when this was launched at our work said “it’s OK I’ll take my chances being misgendered”.

(If mandatory) a much much better way is to change your pronouns daily. And make a big stink if they aren't used correctly.

English has always had "they/their" for situations where someones sex isn't clear. The fact it isn't the linguistic default is merely proof positive of the rarity of women in the workplace.

I love that you did this 👏 . You’d be my all time favourite colleague 🤣

How on earth do you think we managed before pronouns in email signatures?

You would address Alex, as Alex on emails and if you actually met them it would be obvious whether they were male or female, or another colleague might refer to them as she or he.
Nobody got offended and felt the need to whip up an employment tribunal for hate speech or get all the staff 're-educated'

If it isn't mandatory I just wouldn't do it and stay quiet.

How would it have been a great help to her?

to add - pronouns don't tell you if some is male or female.

It tells you how someone feels about their own internal sense of "gender identity". Frankly I have zero interest in this. Its like knowing someones fave M&M colour.

I do not care.

Our staff member called Sam was always being mistaken for a man on her emails. Declaring her gender would have been a great help to her. You’re making a mountain out of a molehill.

We had this. I put mine down as he/him (I am a woman, 57 with a matronly bosom 😄) and nobody has said a single word about it. Makes me laugh. I might take it off now though as I've noticed fewer people have theirs listed now.

Oh and @SloppyThePoodle how on earth are your employers only just getting round to this now??

I thought this had long since died a death.

(Clearly just wishful thinking)

Crap like this makes me so glad I'm not a part of the corporate world anymore.

Why do you need to know how someone feels about their gender identity when you email them?