Convince me that it isn’t the polite thing to do and that misgendering isn’t rude.
Realised I had missed this ⬆️
This is a tough one a few reasons:
- for anyone who doesn't believe in gender identity, there is no such thing as "misgendering"
- it's impossible to know for certain (although there are often several clues) whether someone who has preferred pronouns that differ from their sex gets a sexual thrill from having their gender identity validated e.g. a male being referred to as "she" or "Miss"
- notwithstanding point 2, there are people who genuinely feel offended at "misgendering" (both trans-identified people and allies) because they believe it is disrespectful
So no, I can't convince you it isn't rude, because to some people it is - point 3.
But on the flip side, to some people (e.g. me) being coerced and guilt-tripped into using words I don't believe is rude- point 1.
Equally, I find the idea of being expected to participate in someone's sexual fetish rude - point 2. Obviously we never know what people are thinking but if someone is giving away clues (hiding in plain sight) that they are an autogynophile, I find it rude that there would be an expectation from them and others around them I'd join in with it by actively using opposite-sex pronouns. No thank you.
Ultimately, it's rude to expect anyone to use words that don't represent their own values. If trans(-identifying) people (or their allies) can't accept that I am making an effort to avoid causing upset by completely avoiding all pronouns when referring to trans(-identifying) people in the singular, then they are the ones with the problem. I use they/them for sentences involving plurals e.g. when talking about transwomen or transmen.
Equally, I don't expect anyone else to follow my values. If it's important to someone that they use sex-based pronouns to describe people at all times, grea - it's a reflection of their own values, biology and standard grammar. It's also logical e.g. as laid out very well in the "pronouns are rohypnol" essay. My caveat for supporting it as "not rude" (by my own values) would be that it's not being done maliciously e.g. repeatedly and pointedly doing it in a situation where the person's sex is irrelevant. TBH I personally find any form of pronoun policing, telling people what pronouns to use, rude and when I see people doing it online, I do a silent eye-roll and scroll past. Pronoun battles become tedious because no consensus will ever be reached. There is no objective threshold of what's rude and what's not on anything in life, not just this subject. There are far too many value and belief differences in the world so trying to reach one is pointless.
Rudeness aside, what's far more concerning is coercion. I hope I'm paraphrasing this fairly: you mentioned earlier in the thread that children at your school "correct" each other on pronoun use without staff needing to be involved. These children are coercing each other. Any staff who stand by and let that happen are complicit in supporting this - to use a phrase that my daughters' school uses, they are part of the problem because they are bystanders. In any other situation involving beliefs that not everyone holds (e.g. if a Christian child was telling other children that they needed to believe in god or they would burn in hell) and a teacher hears it going on, I expect they would step in and explain that people have different beliefs. The same should happen here and this explanation needs to make it clear that the concept of "misgendering" applies only in situations where people believe in gender identity - that means recognising that it's OK for someone who doesn't believe in gender to use sex-based pronouns when describing someone. Not an easy conversation but an important one - which is why it's imperative that this KCSIE guidance recognises that it's dangerous to allow this situation to continue. And yes, as awkward as it might be, that also needs to include situations where teachers use opposite-sex preferred pronouns. My daughters think I'm rude for not actively using the words "she" or "her" to describe Mrs [X] at school. I use Mrs X's name. I wouldn't ever do so in person with Mrs X, should such a situation ever arise (see point 2 above), but I do so because I refer to every teacher at school as Mr X, Ms X, Mrs X or Miss X. I would even say Mx if the situation arose, and would (probably) attempt to keep a smirk off my face when doing so. However, I use no pronouns whatsoever and I think my daughters are rude (to me) for expecting me to do otherwise. One of my daughters recognises that this teacher is male, the other isn't sure... despite how obvious it is (such is the power of coercion and pronouns are rohypnol etc**). I've explained how upsetting I find it to them that they expect me to change my own values but they aren't budging. Interestingly, they support me not using any pronouns for a female child at school who they both know well (my daughters say he/him), because they agree that my concerns about social transition in children are valid, so pronouns never get in the way of conversations about this child.
** I don't tell my daughter she needs to stop using she/her for this teacher but I have told her that I'm worried she's been coerced into not seeing/recognising the teacher's male head shape, shoulder shape and gait. I've explained that it's important to know who the males and females are so that you know when someone is breaking the law re single-sex spaces. I've also explained why we have single-sex spaces. She recognises their importance agrees that males shouldn't be in women's spaces but hasn't joined the dots yet. Obviously I could be wrong about Mrs X's sex but there are plenty of other clues that suggest I'm not.
Apologies for the length of that response but hopefully that all makes sense. As it is currently written, KCSIE is swerving this key point: we need to know who the males and females are (and be able to state this using standard English) so that safeguarding children at school is effective. In some situations, this will require "misgendering" to be accepted as an objective way to do this.
(Edited to amend an amusingly ironic grammar adjustment. Points to anyone who spotted it 😂 And yes, I do make things harder for myself gramatically with my pronoun avoidance approach).