Nowhere is safe from preferred pronouns

[RoxyGrey]

I've seen it all now, just logged into a zoom meeting of fairly senior colleagues to see one had as their zoom name [name] (she/her). It was all I could do to hide my eye-roll.

I mean, why on earth did they feel it necessary to put their pronouns there?? Notably, no one else had theirs in their zoom name, even though some do have it in their email signature. It's not like there was any ambiguity in their appearance either, they were visibly feminine presenting so it's unlikely anyone would be confused.

So is this the next step in compelled speech? Anyone been asked/told to do this yet?

Tolerance works both ways.

To not want to be called the name you’ve chosen for yourself because it might be said in a masculine way is what is ridiculous.

To make complaints or raise grievances about being called mate or by their name instead of Miss is unfair.

In general they still present as male. They still sound male. People unfortunately get it wrong or they forget. They shouldn’t be accused of being transphobic or hateful because they are not.

An explanation or a quiet correction instead of an accusation/complaint would prevent the walking on eggshells.

[quote UtopiaPlanitia]@Kettlingur I found the scene with Stamets and his husband discussing Adira, all the while dutifully using they/them pronouns, a) hard to follow (my brain struggled with it feeling overly wordy/complicated and the grammar being weird), and b) sanctimonious on the part of the writers to include 5 minutes of ‘performative allyship’ - it felt like we were being preached at. As a Trek fan, I’ve never had a problem with diversity but Trek has handled it with much more subtlety in previous years.[/quote]
I watched the Star Trek episode and found it fine that the character was they/them as in fact they are the memories of 10+ different people (male female and maybe non specific alien)

But the later chat discussing then felt odd just due to the grammar, I am sure the couple used they no more often than they'd say her before but it just stood out as jarring. I had to re-write this to avoid a they for the 2 chaps. It's odd sentence construction.

As a Trek fan, I’ve never had a problem with diversity but Trek has handled it with much more subtlety in previous years.

Exactly. This just felt performative. Like... underlined virtue signalling. Oh well, this season is not well written anyway.

I was asked to do this at work. My email signature had: pronouns "I" "me" for about a week before I quietly deleted them. Nobody's asked me to do it since

@kaliorphic Exactly! And guess what? An LGBTQ association has just called on all "terfs" to lose their jobs where I work. It is toxic. Of course, over the years I have heard a lot of misogynist language and am aware of how many female members of staff have suffered from sexism in the workplace (including myself). Zero interest in doing much about that. I actually find it very stressful on an already stressful year and have been diagnosed with anxiety- not all due to this if course but it certainly doesn't help. That's why I don't understand how anyone can say it's easy to just "be kind".

I watched the Star Trek episode and found it fine that the character was they/them as in fact they are the memories of 10+ different people (male female and maybe non specific alien)

I suppose if DS9 was coming out now Dax would be a they/them in that case.

I work in a large University. I see more “he/him”’s from biological males than “she/her” from biological females. I only know of one trans colleague but don’t get emails from them so not sure if they use preferred pronouns. I’m so grateful @Grooticle for your post. I think I may need to use some or all of those arguments soon (I say ‘argument’ as I know I will be judged negatively on any refusal to state preferred pronouns if stating them becomes mandatory)

I was asked to do this at work. My email signature had: pronouns "I" "me" for about a week before I quietly deleted them. Nobody's asked me to do it since

Well played.

As a Joan Armatrading fan I'm think Me,Myself,I would fit nicely. Although just Me,Me,Me would be a pleasing dig at the drama of it all.

An LGBTQ association has just called on all "terfs" to lose their jobs where I work.

There's a surprise. I think that since people are now paying highly for their education, universities have been bowing to the pressure of students demands and whims, they are simply businesses after all. It's one reason why uni education should be free really, so the students don't get to call the shots, otherwise the quality and content of education is destroyed. I think things are slowly starting to change though, even in university, now the spotlight has been shone on these authoritarian students.

Bullying ratbags. How long can they keep up the storyline of the most hard fine by group in the history of the world?

An LGBTQ association has just called on all "terfs" to lose their jobs where I work

I would actually out myself as a terf at that point

I received a letter from a solicitor at work this week. It was addressed to my company (90% female) with "Dear Sirs" -the norm for all legal letters.

A century after women started moving into office work in large numbers, it is still OK to pretend we don't exist. Yet where are all the protests about misgendering us?

Wow I’ve never seen that! Sir/Madam but never sirs!

No point trying to speak common sense in this echo chamber.

No point trying to speak common sense in this echo chamber

It seems the majority don't agree with your version of "common sense". Have you considered why that might be?

Maybe try twitter then. That bastion of reasoned debate and genteel discussion...

@DetectiveRandySomething several people, including myself, have explained to you why "It costs nothing to be tolerant" just isn't true. Did you read those posts? Are you not going to address the issues raised?

But ‘no debate’ darling ‘no debate’. Haven’t you heard?

We’ve been “encouraged” to do it by multiple sources. However I’ve been quite heartened by the fairly low percentage that do (about 10-20%).

I’m a few episodes behind on Discovery, but technically surely Adira is a singular (female) human but Tal is a plural entity encompassing Adira, the symbiont and its previous hosts, so Adira Tal should be both she & they at the same time. Anyway, wokerati trying to spin a Star Trek symbiont alien character as some kind of win for non-binary representation in the real world is like when people tried to claim the Doctor regenerating as a woman as some kind of win for trans rights. Nah it’s science fiction darlings. I mean Stamets’ husband (I forget his name but Ricky from My So Called Life) literally died, wandered another plane of existence, and was reconstructed de novo in ‘our’ universe by transdimensional fungi. That show is great and all but not so much about reality!

@Kaliorphic

It costs nothing to be tolerant, it's far more effort to "walk on eggshells" because someone else has a preference.

You're right. It is more effort to walk on eggshells. Which is why I've decided not to bother. I won't be calling people something that they are clearly not. No need to walk on eggshells. Of course if they don't want to be offended by that then it's best people don't try and drag me into their deluded ideology in the first place.

Yikes transphobic much?

@shamalidacdak why is this transphobic? I don't believe in god and am not a fan of organised religion - however for the most part it doesn't effect me and live and let live and all that.

I am also allowed to say that I don't believe, without censure or being threatened with rape and violence (certainly in the U.K.) and don't get told I am "faithphobic" and deserve to lose my job etc.

Similarly, if I was told I had state that I believed in other people's' gods/chose a religion for myself, damn right would I start having something to say about other people forcing their faith down my throat. If I had to include my religion in my email signature - and that agnostic/atheist was not acceptable - damn right would I refuse to put something one/show acceptance for something that is a patent lie.

*down not one

Anyone's transpohobic that doesn't fall into line with the ideology TheWayOfTheWorld There doesn't seem to be much capacity for critical thought or debate. So dull.

@Cwenthryth

I’m a few episodes behind on Discovery, but technically surely Adira is a singular (female) human but Tal is a plural entity encompassing Adira, the symbiont and its previous hosts, so Adira Tal should be both she & they at the same time. Anyway, wokerati trying to spin a Star Trek symbiont alien character as some kind of win for non-binary representation in the real world is like when people tried to claim the Doctor regenerating as a woman as some kind of win for trans rights. Nah it’s science fiction darlings. I mean Stamets’ husband (I forget his name but Ricky from My So Called Life) literally died, wandered another plane of existence, and was reconstructed de novo in ‘our’ universe by transdimensional fungi. That show is great and all but not so much about reality!

I am another who finds this storyline is redundant and performative. I am surprised that Frakes is allowing it to be honest. It is purely virtual signaling for ‘new’ fans who are probably not trekkies. It feels very clunky. But then, I feel much of this season to be a bit clunky in comparison to the other seasons. It is not boldly going into new territory. It misses the point. In that timeline, stereotypes have been completely abolished, as a host of a trill, it is fitting that if they wanted to be called they, it actually works logically.

If they wanted to make it more that a performative topic, it would have been introduced in a character from the first without this fragility surrounding the character. I would have thought having a strong character where it did not have to be explained with naval gazing would have been a better storyline. It feels overdone, like a ploy for sympathy rather than presenting strong role model. I will watch to see where this leads.