Compulsory pronoun introduction, secondary school

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Very uncomfortable to find that pronoun introductions are compulsory in this national debate competition www.esu.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Pronoun-Introductions-Information-for-Schools.pdf as were some students I know who were involved. How can I word a letter to the English Speaking Union explaining why it’s problematic?

They are forcing children to pick masculinity, feminity, identify with one, or opt out?

I think they'd be better off doing away with the weird old fashioned forms of address mentioned in the note.

Apparently it's transphobic, as it should be obvious who uses she/her. It's for non binary people, which upsets the transfolx. Link to the ContraPoints video. That should keep them busy

I think that your first plan of action is to contact "Bob Saull" and tell Bob that you would like to write Bob a letter. Should you address it to Mr/Miss/Mrs/Ms/Mx Saull and what is their gender please?
It seems only right.

To mitigate any chance of upset or discomfort amongst participants, we therefore want to start using pronoun introductions as a matter of course.

What about the people who feel uncomfortable stating their pronouns for any reason, and the people who don't believe in genderism?

This is a good article about what is wrong with having to state pronouns.

spectator.us/problem-goldman-sachs-preferred-pronouns/

Fucking idiots. Utter madness.

My son went to a school debate where they do this. He said one girl said 'she/their'

This would make me very uncomfortable.

To be fair it isn’t actually compulsory - although is so strongly encouraged that you would stick out like a sore thumb if ignoring it.

Will this feed into stereotype threat?

The ESU!

OMFG. I would have hoped they’d be standing for common sense.

This para starts ok and then gets worse than the original request for pronouns:

“It is important to note that there is no requirement to give a preferred pronoun, and it is perfectly acceptable to say ‘I don’t mind’ or ‘I decline to answer’, or indeed to give no preferred pronoun statement at all. However, it is important that all participants are encouraged to make the statement, whether they identify as cisgender (gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth), transgender, or non-binary. This is in order to create an environment where everyone feels equally included and no-one feels like they are being put ‘on the spot’.”

So as well as pronouns they want people to say “I am Cis / Trans “?

However, it is important that all participants are encouraged to make the statement, whether they identify as cisgender (gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth), transgender, or non-binary. This is in order to create an environment where everyone feels equally included and no-one feels like they are being put ‘on the spot

They are excluding and 'putting on the spot' people who don't believe in the concept of gender.

“So as well as pronouns they want people to say “I am Cis / Trans “?”

What else, that is totally irrelevant to the activity of debating, are students expected to declare? Their sexual orientation? Bowel habits? Whether they are a survivor of abuse, have a conviction, their HIV status, their allergies, or not?

Could you ask them to explain how you knows which gender identity matches your sex?

“My name is ‘Miss ItsChristmaaaaaaaaas’ thank you.”

Cis is a nonsense term.

My pronouns are I/you.

Stereotype threat + forcing people to out themselves and/or lie is what I'd emphasise.

I mean, put the 'forcing questioning students to out themselves or lie' first, because we all know no-one gives two hoots about girls, but put the stereotype threat in too, because it's true.

My dd went to a summer school course on Feminism at one of the ivy league universities in the US. The professor told them it was bad form to create an environment in which people had to give their pronouns as people might not be ready to commit or state or want some privacy. So even from a trans-inclusion point of view, this is a stupid policy.

As always though, it is all about the easy optics that can be forced on children/girls/women. Actually changing the social dynamics that make an effeminate-looking man fear for his life in a male bathroom would be far too difficult to take on.

I think this is one of those occasions where Posie’s “Just fuck off. No.” is appropriate.

Must contestants state whether they are Jewish or Sikh or Christian? Because that is what this amounts to, religion and placing one before others (Genderism).

Just put my finger on why this makes me uncomfortable.

I was a feminist before I knew the word because I always noticed and disliked how I was pigeonholed because I was female. How all the time I was seen as female first, not person, and people would make all sorts of assumptions about me. And not like it if they were wrong, quite often, too.

This continued through teens and so on into my working life. It turns out very few men see women as people first, before their sex, if you see what I mean.

All the so called benign sexism, even that irritates the fuck out of me, always has. You're going along with a group of male work colleagues talking as peers and you get to a door and they all go weird as fuck! Leaping out the way etc. Ushering.

Anyway. So this is why I realise I have trouble with this. I've been fighting all these years for people to see me as a person first, for women to be seen as people first. Now we have to stand up at the start of an important thing and announce hello yes I'm a woman, not only that, it is what I strongly identify with, whatever that means (stereotypes???). Yeah not good.

I suppose these days I'd cut my hair short and Id as non binary.

We are losing a whole generation of feminists to this, possibly.

I'm also wholly unconvinced that young me now cutting my hair and saying my pronouns are they / them would have helped anything.

People still know you're female and treat you as such.

It focuses anger on individuals who do things like misgendering rather than society for regressive stereotyping etc.

This is great for people who aren't keen on women's rights etc. Divide and conquer.

I have a great idea.

Suggest that their next debate is on whether it is helpful to ask people to state their pronouns before debating.

That would be a pertinent and interesting debate.

Fraggling pretty spot on imho but I think you don't go far enough
It has also been shown that reminding females of their sex has a detrimental,effect on their performance
So forcing women and girls to remember pronouns at the start is basically handicapping us

Someone else also had a good phrase ...people can identify into a marginalised group, but , as you recognise as a female , you can't identify out of the marginalised group

Yes Fragglimg similar here as to why it feels wrong to make people do this

Pronouns cannot function as correction fluid for those who are dissatisfied with reality.
This sort of mandatory obedience training, requires lying to affirm other people's beliefs. It is a violation of anti discrimination law in many countries. For example the UK EA2010.