To shriek from the rooftops that there is No Such Thing as “preferred pronouns”?

[Ddakji]

That’s it.

They don’t exist - any more than preferred adjectives, adverbs or nouns exist.

Even people who don’t like them still seem to think they exist.

Language is a shared, collective endeavour that belongs to all. It’s not a pick’n’mix for individuals to choose and change at will. For words not to be garbage they have clear definitions - in this case she for females, he for males, they (singular) for sex unknown.

Saying my preferred pronouns are she/her, even if that doesn’t fly in the face of reality, is no different to saying my preferred species is human, my preferred adjectives are sporty and lush.

It’s nonsense. Nothing to do with being kind or they don’t affect me, or I don’t mind if others do but I won’t. It’s nonsense.

Let’s make 2025 the year we kick this nonsense into touch.

Please enough with the ‘kind’ person schtick again. . It is getting annoying now. It is performative

Unless you give away all your salary to someone less fortunate or volunteer your spare time to charity you are not a ‘kind’ person.

I suppose,
A teacher in Ireland (Enoch Burke) refused to use the preferred pronouns of a pupil in 2022 and it led to a big court case that is still ongoing.

In fairness, the Enoch Burke case has multiple elements to it. Pronouns were just the trigger point (and the driver of media interest).

However I believe there are examples of teachers being fired for not using preferred pronouns in the UK and maybe Canada.

Unless you give away all your salary to someone less fortunate or volunteer your spare time to charity you are not a ‘kind’ person

You can be a kind person without doing either of those things

However I believe there are examples of teachers being fired for not using preferred pronouns in the UK and maybe Canada.

Are there? can you provide links to these cases

The Enoch Burke case is still relevant though as he hasn’t been fired for the misuse of preferred pronouns and is still being paid a wage even though he hasn’t worked at the school since 2022, the case is ongoing, It’s a complex case though and not just about preferred pronouns

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8rkprmpvpyo.amp

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-68609392.amp

Here's some UK examples. If you google 'teacher fired pronouns' quite a few US examples pop up too

Looked at the first link and it states ‘allegedly fired’, the case seems to be still ongoing, the second link also states that there is an ongoing case on it

It also says she wasn't fired for refusing to use preferred pronouns, she was fired for disclosing confidential details about the child in question to a third party.

None of these cases including the Enoch Burke case seem to be solely related to ‘preferred pronouns’ therefore they are bit more complex

Yes disputes seem to be on going. I'm not sure what your point is? The teachers were fired with pronouns being part of why.

The second case seems straightforward enough however and he lost his case I believe.

The point is that they may have been wrongly fired, we won’t know until the case is over so they are not really clear examples of the consequences of what can happen in the event of misuse of preferred pronouns

If they were wrongly fired for using pronouns that's pretty devastating, to be fair. Who wants to go through all that and having to fight a court case because they are referencing biological reality?

So you can only be kind if you give away your whole salary or do some volunteer work? Those are the only ways?

That's not why they were fired though.

I have regular Zoom calls with 40 - 70 people who typically don't switch on their cameras. PP are extremely helpful I'm interacting with a Sam or a name I'm unfamiliar with.

Pronouns are NOT what people call themselves!

“Misuse of preferred pronouns” - again, you’re demonstrating that they are not preferred. How can you misuse a preference? Especially if that “preference” is to misuse a word in the first place?!

Why?

Because it’s the other persons preference ( preferred pronoun) not the preference of the person who is misusing it

In some of those situations it seems to be a fundamental aspect of it

No that is true kindness - the non performative kindness. If you tell people you are kind, you aren’t

No one goes around telling everyone how kind they are in any other situation except when it it comes to trans rights. ‘Look everyone’ look at me. I am no so nice and kind.’ .

No the type when you help people who need it and don’t tell everyone how kind you are. No one does it except for in this situation.

Why what?

How can you misuse a preferred word that is being misused in the first place?

So I’ll break it down into two parts.

First - if it’s a preference then not using it is an acceptable reaction, whether you like it or not, and there is no consequence to that refusal. If not using it isn’t acceptable, it’s no longer a preference but a demand, with consequences.

Second - if this “preference” is to use the wrong word (so a male person “preferring” female pronouns), then it is that person who is misusing the word, not the person refusing to use the wrong word.

Both of this prove further that the concept of “preferred pronouns” is a nonsense.