Pronouns in my email signature

[GinTonic]

I've been asked to state my personal pronouns in my work email signature. Grateful for any advice on how to deal with this? It's being presented as optional but I feel it's discriminatory as it's putting me under pressure to reveal my personal views on subjects which up to now I have not shared in the workplace. Thanks all.

Just straightforwardly decline, say you do not feel comfortable to do so, perhaps ‘it is a difficult/sensitive issue for me personally’, and do not engage any further on it. Put it in writing to your manager. If they push you further after that it is downright bullying.

Do you need to give a reason? Can you just say no? Or just not do it?

Surely your email signature just has your name and contact details? If anyone is responding to an email to you, they wouldn't use pronouns would they? When I send emails I use you or your. Am I missing something?

I'm not sure how it means you revealing your personal views, because by giving your pronouns you haven't commented on anyone else's.

Also, in what context has anyone ever sent an email to someone else and used any pronoun other than 'you'?

Pronouns: Sex-based, like my oppression

(If you dare!)

I have never seen this. Or occasion for this. And I have email communications with people across the public sector every single working day.
I'm old and, at most, we had to do Miss or Mrs in the very very olden days when I worked in the private sector.
This sounds very odd.
What instructions have you had to do this and from whom?

I'm not sure how it means you revealing your personal views, because by giving your pronouns you haven't commented on anyone else's.

People who acquiesce are either on the pronoun bandwagon, or haven't given it much thought.

People who refuse, assuming the pronoun request is mandatory, are outing themselves as holding GC views.

I've been asked for my pronouns. I just ignored the question- nothing happened.

You are missing something Soon. Companies (some) have started asking their employees to say if they want to be referred to as he or she or they in emails. So ‘Lucy is going to report back on his findings next week’. So every email you write you have to write at a snails pace so you can ensure you are using the correct pronouns for every person.

And if the OP doesn’t want to put her preferred pronouns on her email it may reveal her personal opinion that it is all a load of bollocks.

Thanks I don't want to give too many details but concerned that ignoring the request could be seen as unsupportive of certain other colleagues.

@Bezalelle I do like your suggestion.

Pronouns: Sex-based, like my oppression

If you dare
I did, I dont know if anyone has actually noticed yet, but it's there.

I have never seen this. Or occasion for this
Coming soon to your neck of the woods. Seriously it's on virtually every Twitter handle, in a lot of NHS emails, all over theatre emails and on and on.

I'm not sure how it means you revealing your personal views, because by giving your pronouns you haven't commented on anyone else's.
By giving your pronouns, you are instructing others how to refer to you in the third person (ie when you’re not there) - many of us consider this to be compelled speech and object to the concept itself. I don’t believe it is my place to instruct you on what pronouns to use about me. So I literally cannot put ‘my pronouns’ in an email signature, I don’t consider them to be ‘mine’ to control. So by an employer forcing employees to do this, they absolutely are forcing us to reveal our personal beliefs.

If Maya wins her appeal then there will be established grounds that our beliefs should be protected under the equality act, which will make declining this more straightforward.

There's also gendered bias. Explain that as a female this would be detrimental to you.

www.forbes.com/sites/pragyaagarwaleurope/2018/12/17/here-is-how-unconscious-bias-holds-women-back/

Option a) just "forget"/don't get around to it. Normal refuge for senior management imposed things everyone else thinks are stupid. Does everyone else actually do it?
Option b) oh that's difficult for me. I'm not sure which to use. I'll have a think. Then if anyone pesters you they're harassing a potentially trans person. No lie, do you have a female gender identity? I don't.
Option c) challenge it as indirect discrimination. Reminding people of your sex increases subconscious sexist biases.

Otherwise, I would say that my pronoun is 'It'
Or use the superb reply on the other current pronouns thread on FWR.

Pronouns- your words, you choose.

Oh goddess absolutely HandsOff! By reminding people you are female you instantly invoke bias. I use ‘Dr Surname’ in a lot of my professional communications. It really does make a difference to how I am treated, sadly.

Here is the superb response on the other thread. You could use parts of this:

I would quietly come out as non binary too - perhaps in a reply to the email thread with the other two colleagues copied in. However I would add that you choose to continue with sex-based pronouns because it can be confusing and distressing for some people, notably people with autism, to be compelled to change the way they use the English language.
Out woke her!

People who refuse, assuming the pronoun request is mandatory, are outing themselves as holding GC views

No - they would be outing themselves as someone who thinks HR have come up with more of the useless, pc rubbish HR specialise in.

@Bananabixfloof , if that is the case I will ignore it until my manager insists I do it. And then I will tell him I'm not doing it because I don't see the point. Or the Maya appeal will sort it.

Ignore it. If they query it, tell them you find it triggering and you're not ready to talk about it.

Good suggestion GC

@HandsOffMyLangCleg thank you for the very helpful link and quote. Unfortunately if I said my pronoun was it people would think I was being totally serious and would refer to me as such.

As well as (as mentioned upthread) that it can be detrimental to women by highlighting they are, there is also another issue that it can be problematic for people who are "still figuring out their gender identity"
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/sep/13/pronouns-gender-he-she-they-natalie-wynn-contrapoints

Could you have a quiet word with HR and suggest that it is problematic forcing people with trans identifies to out themselves in this way?