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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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Original poster

I did it. I stepped up!

110 replies

RhubarbCrumbled · 27/09/2021 10:40

I'm in a development day meeting online and someone suggested we should all share our pronouns. I declined and THEY ASKED ME WHY! I asked why I should and was sent a link (sorry, I didn't copy it in time) and advised I read up about it.
I said I didn't share in the belief that required pronouns to be shared in the same way as I wouldn't insist on people sharing their religion. As a woman I felt excluded. And others who had already put up their pronouns removed them. The pressure to do it was removed. Im hoping this means people will think through what they're being asked to do in future!

It's a very shallow post, but usually I wouldn't stand up like this.

OP posts:
Thelnebriati · 27/09/2021 10:41

Well done! Star

PermanentTemporary · 27/09/2021 10:42

Ach rhubarb I think that's great. I've been thinking about this as a member of my team has put her pronouns in her email signature and is the first to do so. Seems a good time to think about whether this is important to me and in what way.

Pemmican · 27/09/2021 10:43

Well done OP. Always remember that the vast, vast majority of people think this is utter cobblers.

EdgeOfACoin · 27/09/2021 10:44

StarStarStar

supercritter · 27/09/2021 10:45
Star
Pudmyboy · 27/09/2021 10:46

Good for you! Wonder what the link was? And if they would have accepted a reciprocal link to the 'pronouns are Rohypnol' article? Or is any reading to be all one-way? But, again,. good for you!

PronounssheRa · 27/09/2021 10:47

I did the same on pronouns in email signatures. It's optional now. The majority don't include it.

WomaninBoots · 27/09/2021 10:51

Well done. Star

PaleGreenGhost · 27/09/2021 10:51

Not shallow at all! A really brilliant thing you did there, for all the other women too.

Abhannmor · 27/09/2021 10:52

Brilliant 👏 rhubarb well done!

AnneLovesGilbert · 27/09/2021 10:52

Good job. This stuff matters.

ArabellaScott · 27/09/2021 10:55

Rhubarb that wasn't shallow. That matters. Thank you for standing up.

Star
Jaysmith71 · 27/09/2021 10:55

HE HASN'T GOT ANYTHING ON! THE KING IS IN THE ALTOGETHER!

ArabellaScott · 27/09/2021 10:56

Every time you stand up for women you make it easier for others. Every time a woman says 'no', she helps not only herself but a few other women who can't or don't feel able yet to speak up.

Maya Angelou — 'Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.'

LemonSwan · 27/09/2021 10:57

Welldone.

It makes absolutely no sense to announce pronouns in a meeting anyway.

You would refer to someone as their name because they are there.

Saying he said/ she said. I agree with her/him is not the done thing.

Bizarre this is even a thing but well done.

Original poster
RhubarbCrumbled · 27/09/2021 11:01

Thank you! My profession's regional and national teams have all added pronouns to their signatures. We're a mainly female, service driven profession which is probably why there are so many who have just gone along with it as it's what we're expected to do.
I've got to the end of my tether with this attitude generally amongst colleagues and feel like it's time to be a bit pushier and lead rather than simply wait to serve.

OP posts:
Keyboardkaterina · 27/09/2021 11:02

Well done! I think the majority think it’s a load of nonsense but are too afraid to say. The more people stand up and say, no, actually, I don’t believe in the ideology that underpins this and I’m not going to participate, the sooner it will all hopefully go away.

I haven’t been asked to do this yet but I’d I am either in my signature or at a meeting I plan simply to say that I don’t wish to participate.

Suitcaseseverywhere · 27/09/2021 11:04

I wish I was as brave. Currently ignoring the edict but expect to be pulled up on it soon

ChocolateHazelnut · 27/09/2021 11:12

You made it easier for others.

We aren't allowed to say women have a cervix and I am watching a thread (whilst I have sympathy for them in this new there as I am at not having a body people want and the new language police who want to carry a new life in their body) ordering is around, telling us what we can and can't say to people who are taking a lifestyle chioice fraught with difficulty.

I am so over being bossed about, not allowed to make my own decisions, I stayed at home over the pandemic, I have had enough. People telling others who can and can't buy petrol and how much, all of it.

ChocolateHazelnut · 27/09/2021 11:14

That made no sense. People who want to insulate homes, conceive, upset about pronouns or petrol, I am done being lectured.

PhiRhoSigma · 27/09/2021 11:18

Brilliant and well done!
I will be doing likewise if there is a similar attempt to impose this authoritarian, regressive, 'outing' form of compelled speech within my workplace.
(Don't think there will be though, because I know that Head of HR thinks it is bollocks).

Theeyeballsinthesky · 27/09/2021 11:20

Well done you! I bet that wasn’t easy Flowers

EmbarrassingAdmissions · 27/09/2021 11:23

Is it wise for people to have a ready to go answer for when/if the situation arises?

Original poster
RhubarbCrumbled · 27/09/2021 11:30

@EmbarrassingAdmissions That would be very useful. I was in the middle of it all before I really got my head around what I wanted to say. It was lucky that I was typing rather than in person!

OP posts:
EyesOpening · 27/09/2021 11:33

Well done for not staying silent, you will have paved the way for others too.