Pronouns

[Sexnotgender]

As many workplaces move towards ‘voluntarily’ adding pronouns to email signatures.

I think we should all use he/him. Regardless of our sex. You don’t need to be a man but studies have shown women are disadvantaged in the workplace when people are reminded that they are women.

Would HR challenge you?

I'm looking Your Imperial Majesty myself... I think we should aim highter

I like your style your/majesty. Or just Maj?

If I'm forced to do it, I'll probably put he/him just to be contrary. Or maybe it/it!

Given what we know about discrimination against women this appears the only sensible position to take. If required to state my pronouns in work emails my current thinking is that I will use an ambiguous name and he/him at work...

However my concern is that this might be shooting our selves in the foot. Doesn't that then play into the Queer theory that inner feelings, public declaration, behaviour and presentation dictate gender? So working outside the home becomes cemented as a male activity. People in paid employment are men (regardless of biology) then becomes the norm. Additionally it further obfuscates data and makes it impossible for us to make a case for sexist discrimination or sexual harassment in the workplace. I am not sure we can beat them at their own game. If we play at all does that mean they win???

If required to state my pronouns in work emails my current thinking is that I will use an ambiguous name and he/him at work...

My name is fairly unisex already so could definitely get away with it.

And with regard to the rest of your points, no, we never win. Whether we play or not🙁

I am so inclined to put 'Fuck, Off, and Die'.

@YetAnotherSpartacus

I am so inclined to put 'Fuck, Off, and Die'.

Well quite. Or sex based, like my oppression.

But I kind of need my job so need to be vaguely professional I suppose.

Pronouns in the email signature is the hill I'm willing to die on. It sounds petty but it's really not. I work in one of the most sexist, male dominated industries out there and the idea that I would be forced to sign off every email declaring my "gender" would push me over the edge.

Please can we just start saying no to this? Surely we shouldn't be forced to disclose our "gender" if we don't want to?

Putting "he/him" wouldn't work for me as everyone would just assume it was a mistake or I'd gotten confused. If I was to put anything I'd put "There are no pronouns in my email signature due to institutionalised sexism in this industry" and leave it at that.

God that's actually really tempting.

@twoHopes

Putting "he/him" wouldn't work for me as everyone would just assume it was a mistake or I'd gotten confused. If I was to put anything I'd put "There are no pronouns in my email signature due to institutionalised sexism in this industry" and leave it at that.

God that's actually really tempting.

That’s definitely better. How long until you’re managed out for not conforming though🙁

Can you post a link to any research proving that this disadvantages women? It'd be really helpful.

For my signature I'm thinking of putting:
"After decades fighting sexism, I'm not about to state preferred pronouns in this space"

I haven’t heard anything yet in my organisation (it’s mainly working class males I cant see them going for it). I will also die on this hill. I’m not putting he as I don’t want to be seen as a bloke!

Thing is, people keep suggesting we all pretend to be male but that just erases and denies our womanhood. I am a woman and am proud to be one. I am not going to pretend to be male just because the world values men more. I am proud of all the things I have done - my education, my career, and making three human beings with my female body. I refuse to erase that.

If pushed I have thought of something along the lines of "prefer not to specify pronouns in favour of using my first name, i.e Joody, Joody, Joody's".

If it comes up in our workplace, I am planning to point to the trans people who say that having to declare pronouns makes them feel uncomfortable, because it focuses everyone's mind on each other's gender identity, whereas trans people want to be accepted as the sex they are presenting as.

Whatever the craziness of the TRAs, I don't think the pronouns thing is coming from them, it's coming from fuckwit would-be allies, and from blue haired emo non-trans straight 'Kweer' kids who are !! irony klaxon !! appropriating LGBT culture.

Pick a really obscure and hard to spell one, and raise a formal complaint every time someone gets it wrong?

How about yre / yres / yreself?

Or co / cos / cos / coself?

heterosexualisnotadefault.tumblr.com/pronouns

Me / Me / Me / Me / Me Me / Me / Me / Me / Me Me / Me / Me / Me / Me Me / Me / Me / Me / Me (until you get to enough to cover all the genders!)

Thing is, people keep suggesting we all pretend to be male but that just erases and denies our womanhood.

Not at all. Just shorthand for Her Imperial Magesty or Her Excellency.

WorkingitoutasIgo and TwoHopes

What you both said. On reflection I am just not going to play the game. I honestly don't mind what pronouns people use when talking about me. I really don't want to participate in such controlling behaviour as demanding how others perceive me. I don't want to give up biological reality, my reality or fighting for women's rights. Putting pronouns in emails can only hurt women.

I, me, my, mine.

Given how gendered names themselves are, why would you need to put pronouns even if you believed in this ideology? - unless it's to stop non-binary people feeling self-conscious when they put "they, their" after their name. But given the whole point of non-binary seems to be to show how speshul and yoo-neek they are, surely everyone putting pronouns would stop them standing out so much and therefore be a bit shit?

How about a bit of a cryptic take like "Preferred 'pro' nouns: athlete, supporter".

HotPenguin, look for Martin R Schneider and Nicole Pieri to get the 2017 story of what happened when they swapped email identities. 😳

Athletic supporter? Maybe not 😜

@NearlyGranny just looked it up. Doesn't surprise me at all but great to see the evidence there for everyone to see. I've become one of those stereotypical cold and transactional professional women in the last couple of years. Being friendly and approachable just doesn't work for me, no one respects me and I can't get shit done. I completely understand now why so many senior women are like this.

Why would the recipient of your email need to know how you think of yourself?