"Your pronouns"

[bingoitsadingo]

I've seen on a number of threads discussing being asked for your pronouns, people referencing research/studies that shows that when women are reminded of their gender or sex, their performance drops, or that when other people are reminded/told that X is a woman, they treat them differently, etc. Could anyone direct me to any of these please? I've been searching but struggled to find much.

I've noticed professionally that pronouns are creeping more and more into peoples email signatures, twitter bios, etc, so would really appreciate some resources to back up why I think this is a terrible idea for women generally, as I can't imagine it will be long before I'm asked to do the same

"The only way around this is to have everyone self-declare pronouns, trans or not."

Why would you need to know? English only uses sexed pronouns in the third person, so they are never relevant when you are talking to somebody face to face. If you make a big deal about pronouns, you are are imposing the concept of gender, when for centuries women have fought to be regarded simply as human beings.

If somebody wants to be referred to using a particular pronoun, fine, but that should be as simple as saying "My name is William but I am always called Bill" or "I don't take milk in tea". There is no need to make everyone declare their gender.

Vitriol

If it’s the same website as this intersectionalityscore.com/ then I’m not sure if they’re serious either. I did the test and am apparently more privileged than 99% of the population (intersectionality score of 3). Go me. I think.

Apparently 73% of people are more privileged than me. Shit, my life is so tough, and I never knew

That's the one, seadragon The comments are pretty funny.

Why would you need to know? English only uses sexed pronouns in the third person, so they are never relevant when you are talking to somebody face to face.

You are not supposed to misgender people even if they aren't around. Given that we are a sexually dimorphic species, we are programmed to identify someone's sex with high speed and accuracy. This means if we start talking about a person with the pronouns we assume, it's likely we will do so face to face. It takes a great deal of effort and concentration to remember to use pronouns that go against this ingrained way of thinking. But my point was, self-declaring pronouns marks someone out as trans. This can cause discrimination, I am sure. Therefore, in order to maintain cover, having everyone declare pronouns, trans or not, makes it no longer a marker for being trans. I assume that this is desirable for some.

68% of people are more privileged than me

Ive no idea how thats worked out as i bet im more privileged than loads of people

Not overly educated...got A levels

Left it in the middle of cis/trans

Everything else was one end or the other ...cept rich

Its weird

79% of people are more privileged than me, apparently. That may in large part be because it detected my location and thus asked me whether the relevant language was my first or second, and whether I was born here or not. Certainly those details have often impacted my treatment in this country, but not at all in the same way a lot of others here giving the same answer experience...

Some of the questions are also utterly daft to self-identify in terms of privilege, surely? If I hung around more genuinely wealthy people I would likely be inclined to rate myself much lower on that slider - but surely my own perception of my level of financial security/wealth changing over time does not actually change my privilege in that respect.

Therefore, in order to maintain cover, having everyone declare pronouns, trans or not, makes it no longer a marker for being trans.

How does that work, then? Anyone using they/them pronouns is obviously trans. Anyone using pronouns which are at odds with their appearance is obviously trans. For the tiny number of trans people who 'pass' as the opposite sex, people would automatically use the pronouns for the sex they perceive them to be, so declaring pronouns is unnecessary.

Obviously none of this applies for people you never meet - as on the internet. But on the internet you can be anyone you want to be, anyway.

Obviously none of this applies for people you never meet
Indeed, the post I was responding to mainly regarded emails.

I should make clear that I agree with none of this. I'm a scientist. Although my main area isn't human biology, I can't put everything I k Ow to be factually correct aside for a belief. Pronouns aren't even about self identification, they are policing the words of others, and trying to change the innate perceptions of others. Having everyone state their pronouns on email/social media/professional documents would achieve the aim of giving trans people cover as if every women states her preferred pronouns as she/her, it doesn't look out of place when a trans woman does it. I understand why they would want that. In of itself, I don't have a problem if people want to do that. I do, however, see it as a slippery slope. I won't be telling everyone my pronouns. And I say this as someone who is misgendered, in email and in person. I work in a male dominated job and sector. I have short hair, broad shoulders, big biceps and have an almost tenor voice. I am a woman. I was born a woman. I'm really glad I'm not growing up now.

Having everyone state their pronouns on email/social media/professional documents would achieve the aim of giving trans people cover as if every women states her preferred pronouns as she/her, it doesn't look out of place when a trans woman does it.

But this is the bit I don't get. If the transwoman has a female name and looks female, then everyone will automatically use female pronouns. If they look male and/or have a male name, then there is no 'cover' because their appearance/name outs them as trans/male if they say they want people to use female pronouns for them. So there's no need for everyone else to say what their pronouns are to avoid outing trans people.

I don't think it's to avoid outing trans people, the majority of whom are probably less likely to be misgendered than somebody called Dr Jo Smith.

I think it's to normalise the idea that everybody is defined by their gender, for the benefit of people who obsessively define themselves by their gender.

I think it's to normalise the idea that everybody is defined by their gender, for the benefit of people who obsessively define themselves by their gender.
Agreed, merrimouse!

I think it's to normalise the idea that everybody is defined by their gender, for the benefit of people who obsessively define themselves by their gender.

This! With a side-order of speech (i.e. thought) control.

Preferred pronouns
Coffee,black,no sugar/tea,black,two sugars/tea,earl grey, hot