Told I was 'phobic' for not using pronouns!

[NewStartIn50s]

Asked for my preferred pronouns and I said ' I don't use them', pushed on what I use to refer to myself and I said I don't use on emails or when I introduce myself or at all. Apparently, if I use them I am showing inclusivity to others and being accepting. I'm not quite a dinosaur yet but why are these things forced on us. I don't have a beard (yet) and I think you can tell what I am/but does it really matter if you can't.

So AIBU

YANBU - don't have to use pronouns if you don't want to

YABU - you should state what your preferred pronouns are

It's hilarious because the people using pronouns hurt is those with gender dysphoria who are struggling with their identity, what an own goal.

Absolutely. Someone told the virtue signalling tossers that universal pronoun declarations were progressive and inclusive and a whole bunch of people who always like to think of themselves as being on the side of the angels responded like nodding dogs. It's quite depressing that people are so willing to embrace something which harms the group it purports to help because it's easy and they don't need to think.

Thank you, didn't know about the petition, just signed.

Hmmm....am I though?

I think this is all a perfect example of one of the most detrimental, yet rarely considered impacts of the internet and communication without any barriers such as audience size, time and distance.

Language has always changed and evolved throughout history, but what we have today is so unprecedented, I'm not sure if it should even count as language evolution. The internet allows for language and meaning to literally change over night for huge populations, where words can change meanings several time in just a matter of a few years. It was inevitable to activist players would take advantage of the confusion caused by rapidly changing language, especially when they use the tools to be the ones changing it.

@babyjellyfish and p.s. yes I was being sarcastic. Very telling though isn't it? That by using the exact same words in the exact same way that there is functionally no difference between sarcasm and genuine belief.

I'm genuinely not sure if you are being ironic or not, but either way I find this worth saying...

We are in a time when there is a concerted effort to say some people - the ones the word woman used to mean - are not allowed to exist.

We are told it's fine to be just defined as "cis" women but that is not at all the same thing:

1. It is a statement that our bodies are irrelevant to the experience and social consequences of being a woman, what is important is a womanyness of the mind which all women, trans and cis, have in common.

2. It excludes female-bodied people if they are non-binary or trans men, and therefore excludes their experiences and voices from the story of sexism and the understanding of its consequences.

Yet we do exist and we know our bodies have consequences even if it is only because a few thousand years of patriarchy shaping our laws and culture has made them matter.

The idea that denying trans people the right to appropriate a name and history that was not theirs, and rather ask that they use a new name that reflects their own, different journey, is somehow denying they exist is laughable. The reality that what they demand is exactly the undefining of the female-bodied, the group of humans who have been most consistently disempowered across human cultures, as a coherent social group is terrifying.

I'm a difficult woman as a PP noted. When asked about pronouns, I say, "No thank you," and move on. I expect a witch burning one day.

Of course, good point!

‘Thankfully it is not most women who are this difficult’

There is much to be said in favour of ‘difficult’ women…

This!

'most of WHOM' not 'which' - disappointing to see such sloppy use of pronouns in this thread! 😂

Oh how regressive wanting to go back to a time where people were literally not allowed to exist. This is such a violent thread.

How regressive to go back to categorising people based on the stereotypes traditionally assigned to each of the two sexes, rather than just saying that it is a biological fact that you are either male or female, but that this should no longer in the 21st century dictate how you dress, what personality traits you should have or what jobs or interests you should have.

It blows my mind that anyone could possibly think that an ideology which says "Oh you have short hair and like dinosaurs and trucks? Maybe you're actually a boy, not a girl!" is remotely progressive.

Women like me, who were sexually abused as children and are now somewhat uncomfortable sharing changing rooms with men, no doubt 🙄

Yes us stupid women forgetting that a six footer from the rough end of the trench just pops on a pair of heels and a wig and instantly becomes more vulnerable than any girl /women who has experienced abuse and violence from men . Shame on us women for getting in the way of a man playing dress up . I call bullshit on it .

I completely agree with you. My DD is almost 16 and the last couple of years the whole issue is becoming quite concerning. Quite a large number of DD’s peers have ‘identified’ and labelled themselves as either the ‘opposite gender to the gender assigned at their birth’ 🙄 non-binary, gender fluid, asking teachers to use their preferred pronouns, preferred names…. They even have an after school club. I’m 35 and as a child I was what we then called a ‘tomboy’ - I wasn’t a ‘girly girl’ , I played football, climbed trees, went to scouts, had short hair etc etc. But I didn’t once feel confused or think I must actually be male… it’s over complicating things at best, extremely damaging at worst. We should be raising our daughters to know that they can wear what they like, have their hair how they like, do any sport, any career they choose- and however they live their lives, they are still women and should be proud to be so.
Most of us don’t really tick one certain box and we don’t need these labels.

Gender has nothing to do with biology

So why do men with gender identities think their chosen gender expression should somehow entitle them to access female only spaces and services, because those things are based on biology not feelings or self image?

Why should 99%+ of the population now have to segregate spaces by special identity feelings rather than sex, just because a tiny % demand it?

Man and woman aren't 'genders'. They are simply the words for male and female humans. It's only genderists that need their made up gender meanings so they can insert themselves into a category they aren't part of. There is no universal 'woman' personality.

So if gender isn't biology it can only be sexist, outdated stereotypes or a fantasy of how someone thinks a person of the opposite sex behaves which they want to emulate.

Either sex can be feminine or masculine so pretending certain personality traits, likes or dress sense makes someone a man or a woman rather than their sexed body is ridiculous.

Only men could be so entitled that they think we must accommodate their feelings over our own reality.

No, this thread is not violent.

Stop being so silly.

Ah but is it a “literally violent” thread? Apparently people saying no to gender ideologists is now literal violence. I do love the way the GI activists pop on to scold, use hyperbolic language and throw round accusations whilst making no actual discernible points.

I’m now thinking the comment may have been satirical. I hope so

My feelings exactly. I was a tomboy, always up a tree or building dens, but essentially I was just a kid. Kids grow up, and I’m a woman perfectly happy in my womanhood. I worry so much for our young people and the future

My feelings exactly. I was a tomboy, always up a tree or building dens, but essentially I was just a kid.

To me, the adult version of this does constitute womanhood.

My response is that I do not play the gender game.

And I would refuse to do it, come hell or high water.

Well if it was satirical then it really didn't come across as that .

I wouldn't put them on my email as I don't think people need to know my gender to deal with work. It should make no difference if I am a man or a woman.

I think it was satirical