I have realised I have made too many assumptions about gender over the years. I had always assumed that Paul (name changed of course) in my company was a man simply on the basis of his appearance (well over 6 foot, well built, big beard, low voice that only someone with an Adam's apple and whose balls have dropped could have). Imagine my relief to find that I have not been misgendering him for over a decade because he has helpfully added his pronouns to his email auto signature - they are he/him/his. There is no company diktat to add pronouns on emails so clearly this is important to Paul or maybe he has been misgendered recently.
So, I thought I would ensure that Paul was not offended on a Teams meeting this afternoon and kicked off the meeting by asking everyone to note that Paul's pronouns are he/him/his and that given that he has stated these that everyone please be sensitive to ensuring that they use them. No one said anything so I think they all took it on board, no one misgendered Paul and I like to think that his move to include his pronouns at work has been embraced in my meeting. Maybe as a result others that attended the meeting will add theirs to their auto signatures too.
Feminism: Sex and gender discussions
I am embracing virtue signalling pronouns in emails
MsFogi · 21/07/2022 18:25
FOJN · 21/07/2022 18:39
Is it dignified for a 50yo woman to smirk and snort like a teenager?
ArmWrestlingWithChasNDave · 21/07/2022 18:43
Oh lol OP you're totes hilair! You will be the hero of the workplace! Songs will be sung about your incredible wit! Did everybody in the meeting applaud? Did the CEO immediately promote you to Head of Being Hilarious?
You must be so proud!
Kanaloa · 21/07/2022 18:45
I mean I’m not a fan of pronoun talk but presumably he put it in his email because he may at times email people who do not know he is a 6ft well built man with a deep voice. I have a contact at uni who has a name that could be either way (like Alex) and actually the pronouns were helpful in that case as I knew who to expect.
frazzledasarock · 21/07/2022 18:56
the posters who are outraged, why? Clearly Paul wishes his pronouns to be known, it’s important to him and OP has merely pointed this out to prevent him being inadvertently mis-pronouned.
everyone in the meeting may not have received email correspondence from Paul and could therefore potentially describe him by the wrong pronoun. It’s clearly important to Paul that his pronouns be correct.
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MrsRuggles · 21/07/2022 19:01
Maybe this has been misunderstood, or people are being deliberately obtuse. Indicating one's pronouns in email signatures is not to ensure that one is not misgendered. For cis people with names not clearly of one gender or another it does have that advantage. What your burly chap was quite likely doing was showing his support of trans people who are more often misgendered. It normalises the practice. Good for Paul.
FOJN · 21/07/2022 18:39
Is it dignified for a 50yo woman to smirk and snort like a teenager?
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