Just been told to remove my pronouns from my Teams profile

[Horrace]

I'm weak 🤣
My manager just phoned me to say there has been some serious complaints made about me that he must urgently address.
I panicked.
In the Pronouns section of my Teams profile, I have

'Take a Wild Guess'

Its been there for a few years. Its finally been noticed and I've been told to take it down because it's made someone or more than one possibly, FEARFUL of me.

Again, complete conjecture to suit your narrative. Soon I'm going to read that the OP was branded on the forehead to serve as a warning...

I think that's incredibly unprofessional, and you'd probably be in a bit of bother at my workplace for such a pathetic gesture.

Putting pronouns in your signature is completely harmless and is good business practice. It's bizarre and just a bit ignorant to do what you did, to be honest.

So, the OP hasn’t confirmed there are no negative ramifications to not using listed pronouns? And so you are trying to convince people that there would be none?

Good oh.

You still have not bothered to answer the questions I asked though. Maybe you can give it a whirl at answering since I was replying to your post about ‘respect’.

Here they are again:

What is respectful about demands of changing language to suit a person’s philosophical belief about themselves that doesn’t reflect material reality?

What is respectful about obscured language that is inaccurate being demanded and supported by policy?

Completely harmless? 🤔

It is not harmless for male people to use female language to describe themselves though.

Why do you think it's good business practice?

It's actually not harmless. There is a body of research that shows a detrimental impact on how seriously women are taken and the consequent negative impact on their career progression when attention is drawn to their sex. So for women, putting pronouns in your signature is an act if self sabotage.

I remembered reading something about this too.

But I also remember the Vet study where a group of Vets were tested and received the same CVs with very similar qualifications through equally valued universities and work backgrounds with it clear which were male and which were female. Overwhelmingly, the vets chose the male CVs and when asked what they believed they would pay their chosen CVs, consistently said they would have offered the male candidates higher salaries.

So yeah, completely harmless.

Well, at least if you're only concerned with men it is.

Actually, no. I was referring to the fact that the OP laughed at her manager for raising her statement "Take a Wild Guess" (or words to that effect) and the fact that she said in her updates that it was meant to antagonise, ridicule and mock those that have indicated pronouns in Teams. I think people on this thread need to find better victims, because I can't fathom in what world it'd be ok to intentionally antagonise, ridicule and mock colleagues.

Telling me which pronouns to use when referring to you is coercion. I cannot tell from an email whether ‘Isla Bryson’ is male or female. If Isla puts she/her under the signature, that is an indication that I am expected to refer to Isla as a woman, even in Isla’s absence, regardless of Isla’s actual sex, regardless of which sex I recognise Isla to be. The not-so-veiled threats of what might happen to my career if I don’t submit to the coercion reinforce it.

Gender ideology is in its essence totally, totally mental @Horrace

General population is starting to wake up to this fact (finally). So I wouldn't worry anymore about it.

And yet, my questions are still relevant to your point about “intentionally antagonise, ridicule and mock colleagues”.

Here they are again:

What is respectful about demands of changing language to suit a person’s philosophical belief about themselves that doesn’t reflect material reality?

What is respectful about obscured language that is inaccurate being demanded and supported by policy?

I think you are very simplistic. Do you know or work with any trans people who you really like and respect?

Liking and respecting people does not involve going along with a lie that they have changed sex.

I work with someone who has english as a second language. Pronouns be damned. Everyone is he/she/her/his. They never get it right and when you've just figured out who they are referring to they realise they have been using the wrong pronoun and swap to the correct one. Very confusing when you've been in a meeting with multiple people.

OP you are my hero.

Actually I am fine with that. I think of my co worker as a woman and I would not have guessed they were ever a man if they had not told me.

I have people with transgender identities in my daily life that I like and respect.

Respecting them doesn’t mean I have to change my language to suit their philosophical belief about their personal identity. Surely that is respect only going one way- to them and not mutual.

What other group do you act as if you believe their philosophical belief about themselves that is not based on material reality when you don’t? And change your language usage to suit?

You might be fine with pretending humans can change sex. Some of the rest of us have too much respect for science and biological to do that.

So you believe that because you couldn’t correctly identify the sex of your male coworker that you and others should use female language for him? Why? Because he passed in your opinion ?

What would you do if he didn’t pass?

Hello, apologies, I'm going to try and answer, though I'm conscious we may be focusing on different issues here and I may have missed some of the posts.
Your questions:

• What is respectful about demands of changing language to suit a person’s philosophical belief about themselves that doesn’t reflect material reality?

> As far as I can see, the OP manager's request centered around removing the OP's statement "Take a Wild Guess" from Team's, and not around OP using/not using someone's preferred pronouns. OP has said her statement was meant to antagonise, ridicule and mock those who indicate pronouns in Teams. And it seems it was perceived in that way by one/several colleagues.

• What is respectful about obscured language that is inaccurate being demanded and supported by policy?

> OP hasn't mentioned a mandatory workplace policy, or the fact that she is now required to use someone's preferred pronouns. She's also confirmed that filling out the pronouns section in Teams is voluntary and can be left blank. I've worked in many different private companies in the UK (I'm a contractor). Every time I join, I'm required to take all the mandatory training a permanent employee would take in a year. This isn't a choice, I would likely get sacked on a week's notice if I didn't. I've never seen a policy whereby using someone's preferred pronouns is mandatory. My experience is similar to OP's in that stating one's pronouns in the inventory, emails or Teams and such like has always been left at people's discretion. In practice, I've never come across a colleague going by gender-neutral pronouns. If I did, I would try and use them, not because I have to or because I'm in thrall to one ideology or the other, but as a mark of respect within the workplace and to foster collaboration. If I made a mistake and forgot, I would apologise, just as I would if I mispronounced a colleague's name. I have a hard to pronounce name myself, but I couldn't care less how colleagues pronounce it. In a job a long time ago, a colleague kept calling me by an entirely different name for a year. It didn't bother me in the slightest. When it comes to others, though, I assume that they care and try my best.

It doesn’t hurt me to call them by their pronouns they wish to be called by.

I don’t think humans can change sex. I think some humans can feel like they are a different sex.

I know a few trans people. One is a total arsehole but it's nothing to do with being trans. The others are all very nice and I like them (one is a bit annoying but nice). They are all very obviously the sex they are, though, and it's just really absurd that I'm supposed to perceive them as being somehow different. It's as plain as the nose on any face that the trans identified women are women like any other and the trans identified men are men like any other. Actually, it's interesting how, even with short hair and no makeup the women still exude female energy and even with a full face of slap and a dress, the men still exude male energy. There's just... no sodding difference. None. Why would there be?