Edinburgh University to hand out pronoun badges

[BiologyIsReal]

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2018/08/25/edinburgh-university-student-union-officials-hand-pronounbadges/

I will break every rule in MN's be nice to trans policy if I even make a comment.

My pronouns are - get tae fuck

"Sorry, I don’t think we’ve met before. My name’s Sarah and my pronouns are she/her - how about you?’ or simply ask, ‘Could you just remind me of your pronouns?’”

Translates as, "I'm super privileged and I need some reason to feel really oppressed and victimised, how about you?"

Meanwhile raped girls in India are burnt to death. I bet no-one checks their pronouns first...

When I am talking to someone, I usually have the courtesy to refer to them by name rather than a pronoun, which may or may not change in the next 5 minutes.

Walking on eggshells is what it sounds like.

Someone where I work (not in my department) had the adult equivalent of a straight legged, floor strop because a HCP didn’t ask their partner’s pronouns and referred to the person pushing a baby out of their vagina as “she”.

For the 2nd time I have been asked, at a local networking meeting, what my preferred pronoun is... again "Just call me Curious" was met with a lot of hostility!

The line "The guide advises that saying you “don’t care” which pronoun is used is offensive" explains why.... but also highlights the 'done deal' expectations of the people who have swallowed all of this stupidity!

I may need to dig a deep hole and make sure the lid is a tight fit!

I generally assume that anyone interacting with me will use the gender-neutral second person singular...

Facepalm.
FFs.

This is going to go down well...

This is going to go down well...

Wtf?

surely if someone were talking to me, they would use 'you' or 'four fried'?

I got asked what my gender identity and preferred pronoun was on a form the other day, and crossed it all out, wrote 'sex' and 'female'.
Controversial eh?

Where will this naval gazing end?

My guess is humans are becoming more self obsessed as a way of wiping ourselves out and saving the planet.

I think the way to respond to these is with wide eyed innocence ...

The guide advises that saying you “don’t care” which pronoun is used is offensive, as it “suggests that trans folks are silly for requesting that their pronouns be respected”.

Isn't this misgendering by forcing me to identify myself by a pronoun?

Honesty is offensive, but then we already knew that.

The guide advises that saying you “don’t care” which pronoun is used is offensive, as it “suggests that trans folks are silly for requesting that their pronouns be respected”.

So you can’t opt out lest you be called a bigot?

Asking people about their “preferred” pronoun should also be avoided, as it can imply that pronouns are a mere preference rather than a necessity. Using the term “preferred” can also “isolate and alienate” transgender people, it says.

Using the term “woman” to describe someone as a penis also “isolates and alienates” me. It also makes me wonder if I can get a refund on my education and student loans.

Someone with a penis. With!

Oh FFS. The lot of them need to grow up, stop being so narcissistic and worry about some real problems like students used to.

OK. So now, I have calmed down enough to say - without breaking any MN guidelines - (but you never know):

1. I'm glad I am old and should take leave of this world before it descends into utter madness. To paraphrase and avoid being politically incorrect - the mentally challenged have taken over the institution that they are sent to for their own and the safety of others.

2. I wish those of such sensitive personalities could go back in time to my babyhood and childhood where the sort of things that worried us were "are we going to be killed tonight in the air raids?", "are we going to have enough to eat within our rations?" and later "can we possibly avoid nuclear war and the end of time?"

Not too much time to worry about gender then. How the fuck would these sensitive souls have coped?

This policed language is ridiculous- the examples of how an interaction might go are so forced and stilted and the opposite of natural speech. If something doesn't develop naturally within social communication then maybe let it drop as the nonsense it is instead of forcing it with an approved script. Some of the comments underneath are funny though.

I think the way to respond to these is with wide eyed innocence ...

If I'm ever in an environment where this occurs, I'm going to use a 'broken record' technique:

"I'm sorry, tell me again? No, don't understand, tell me again? No, sorry, just don't get what you're talking about...etc."

Biology DH and I have talks about number 1 quite often. Only in our 50s we are happy to be 'old' as being offensive is a given!

And yes to 2 also, not for WWII but for the nuclear clock, the possibility of THE bomb and the reality of mainland IRA bombs, brownouts, 3 day weeks, strikes, scouse lines etc etc

It is immeasurably sad that the very real hardships of the recent past are now equated with such non events as misgendering and literal violence.

It feels as though some of the most fanciful sci fi, the proper pulp stuff, has been outstripped, in its ludicrousness.

Unfollowed Jordan Peterson on twitter as his feed and followers were a bit off but he did step up and challenge this narcissistic, controlling, self absorbed intolerant behaviour.

I can think of two things to do with these badges, either put them straight into recycling, or to invent something really ridiculous and write that on them for a laugh.
I've never been asked my pronouns in real life and I'm not sure how I would react if I was. Probably just laugh nervously or something.

This article made me choke on my breakfast, so I came to see if anyone had spotted it. It reads like a spoof.

My default when asked to select a gender is now "fern", in honor of Tumblr saying that's a valid gender identity. Possibly I may switch to "vodka" if the meeting lasts too long and people are being particularly wanky.