MS are handing out pronoun badges to their staff

[PostingForTheFirstTime]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10173649/M-S-diversity-managers-staff-pronoun-badges-customers-know-address-them.html

I will be emailing the appropriate departments advising them that gender ideology is still a hot political topic; its decision to allow men to use women's changing rooms made me so uncomfortable that I will not shop for clothes in their stores any more, but its decision to push a political stance with which I fundamentally disagree means I won't be using them at all from now on.

So sad, because I love their trousers and their Christmas party foods.

I'm unclear whether this is optional, any employees of M&S would have grounds to pull them up if not.
I find them an easy one to boycott tbh.

How ridiculous. I have zero need to know a shop assistant's pronouns.

The email address is hard to find

www.marksandspencer.com/MSContactUsCmd?storeId=10151&langId=-24&catalogId=10051&categoryId=282501&byEmail=9

This is very intrusive. There seems to be this constant push to encourage people to lay all the details of their life out on a slab. In the case of someone in a customer-facing job, interacting daily with hundreds of strangers, this visual prompt for a stranger to start to think of them, not as a checkout worker representing the shop but instead an individual with this or that type of sexual behaviour is actually dangerous.

Mr Parke's post was shared two weeks ago, on International Pronouns Day

There is an international pronouns day??? (or is that pronouns' day)? :)

Speaking of which, is there an international day for the poor abused apostrophe? It (I am assuming the apostrophe identifies as an 'it') deserves one - in fact its cause deserves attention by Amnesty and the UN.

Isn’t that likely to put trans staff at greater risk of abuse from customers?
Seems bonkers to me.

Sounds as if corporate bods saw it as an easy win for 'diversity and inclusion'. Not much info in the story but sounds optional and hope it is.

I buy online from M&S but would swerve someone with a pronoun badge in any store, so perhaps not the 'conversation starter' they want it to be.

why are you getting all upset about a decision that has been made by employees for employees?

Im not even sure it is a conversation starter

Did he mean conversations within the organisation?

Cos I can’t see how it would work for customers…to be honest I doubt id see it without my glasses

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel

Isn’t that likely to put trans staff at greater risk of abuse from customers? Seems bonkers to me.

Seriously?! The default reaction to a trans person is not, nor should we expect it to be "abuse". And if it was, this was something to really work on, because no one has deserved "abuse" for their sex or gender.

I mean, one of the arguments that women don't want to put their pronouns into their emails is that they are taken less seriously. How about we change perception of women, rather than be triggered by someone showing their pronouns into absolutely inappropriate behaviour?

I must take a wander I to my local. If I spot one I shall point say ‘no thank you’ and walk out.

@KittenKong

I must take a wander I to my local. If I spot one I shall point say ‘no thank you’ and walk out.

that's totally normal

@CatherinaJTV

why are you getting all upset about a decision that has been made by employees for employees?

It’s a problem to enforce an ideological belief on all the staff when some may be uncomfortable or downright offended by it.

AllTheUsernamesAreAlreadyTaken * I thought the same.

'By employees, for employees'? Or by direction from above to gain SW points?

Depends on how ‘encouraging’ they are going to be really

And quite obviously a minority of employees have requested it but it shouldn’t be required of all employees

If someone wants their pronouns on their badge then ok, shouldn’t need ‘encouragement’

This is an aside but the badge in the article has He/Hirry/Him. That's a new one to me - in what context would Hirry be used?

@Chrysanthemum5

This is an aside but the badge in the article has He/Hirry/Him. That's a new one to me - in what context would Hirry be used?

it says he/HIM/his

How about we change perception of women, rather than be triggered by someone showing their pronouns into absolutely inappropriate behaviour?

Change the perception of women to include men and therefore become a nonsense word?
Or
Change the perception of women so that gender is not at all important in how we views people’s ability to do a job? In which case, pronoun tags would be harmful.

@Chrysanthemum5

This is an aside but the badge in the article has He/Hirry/Him. That's a new one to me - in what context would Hirry be used?

Youre like me then

Never going to spot it without glasses 😀

@AllTheUsernamesAreAlreadyTaken

How about we change perception of women, rather than be triggered by someone showing their pronouns into absolutely inappropriate behaviour?

Change the perception of women to include men and therefore become a nonsense word?
Or
Change the perception of women so that gender is not at all important in how we views people’s ability to do a job? In which case, pronoun tags would be harmful.

Change the perception of women, so that pronouns would not be perceived as an invitation to discriminate.

Ah yes @CatherinaJTV it does say 'Him' I had misread it.

Change the perception of women, so that pronouns would not be perceived as an invitation to discriminate.

The only way to do that would be to make their pronouns irrelevant

@RufustheBadgeringReindeer yup not a hope I'm seeing pronouns on a badge! Still not sure about the context in which a customer would use 'Him' in a standard conversation

Yes we would love it if the perception of woman was changed to avoid discrimination

Kind of the point of feminism

Until that happens I will refuse to advertise my sex .