Advice on how to navigate the woke at work

[BeverlyBrook]

Hi my company has 'gone woke'. Encouraged to put pronouns in email signature and we get emails on how great stonewall is.

So I don't get fired but can gently educate my colleagues to think for themselves on this, are there any resources I could sign post people to?

I have just not put pronouns in my signature and I never discuss this at work. But the young women I work with are falling for the 'just be kind' crap.

I have had a look through this section threads but couldn't find any beginner info, rather than full peaked. Thanks

Signposting of resources would have to be relevant to your work, presumably?

This hasn’t happened to me yet, but I suspect I would feel my way gently, responding respectfully but firmly to any challenges, explaining my opinions if asked and defending my position if necessary.

Other than that, the traditional thread for beginners is here:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/3145470-Break-it-down-for-me

I am too scared to say any opinions. I am just going to say no thank you. When pressured. However I would like to be able to share a link to someone articulating why it is a bad idea to put pronouns on your emails.

Ah thanks for the link! I'll check it out

Sex matters site has lots of accessible material when it comes to the conflict between protections based on sex and those wanting to express their gender identity.

In general succinctly expressing your opinion when asked is fair. Be armed with points to maintain boundaries around female only spaces.

If there is any suggestion they are creating a hostile environment for GC staff ('stonewall is great' is enough) ask them what they are doing to ensure they are not creating a hostile environment.

I'm hoping this is early enough for you to influence it.

I wouldn’t bother unless and until changes are proposed that affect women, e.g. replacing sex with gender when it comes to single sex facilities or diversity data collection.

If they are planning to push it onto customers, I’d also have some stories up my sleeve about how it’s backfired on companies in the past.

You may find that if you wait to the end of Pride MonthTM then everyone will forget about it.

@BeverlyBrook I'm hopeful that the tide is turning big time. There has been a lot of little wins, more & more people are waking up & calling out the bullshit including the mainstream media so I agree with @Paq hold your tongue (& your job)... At least for the time being.

I think it's best to acknowledge that you are perfectly entitled to your views and so are your colleagues. You don't have to get involved or agree with them but I would just keep quiet.

Instead of linking to an article on why it is bad to do something
. Link to an article about why it is good to have people who think for themselves. Especially why it is good to employe people who think for themselves and will buck trends (not behaviour like sheep)
https://thewalrus.ca/why-you-need-to-think-for-yourself/

A no thank you I d like to think for myself and and have come to the conclusion that pronouns are not something for me to be using.

Why don't you add all your protected characteristics?

Titchy
(Married, straight, she/her, female, atheist, not pregnant, no disability)

You're too scared to vice your opinions but want to educate others on your opinions??!! Maybe the colleagues are not falling for the just be kind crap they just are kind!

If you wanted to make a less GC argument about it, there’s also the point that “encouragement to put pronouns on emails” could be interpreted as pressuring people to publicly come out about a gender identity when they’re not ready to.

You don't have to educate people but you can give a confident answer that it's okay to not be swept up in it. An Each to their own approach is enough for some people to step back from the social pressure.

I had a colleague once say something like "I'm yet to be convinced any of this is making anyone happier" in response to pronouns. It was enough to make people think, showed she was open minded to evidence while stating there was none.

My work is fairly pronoun free though.

It is precisely because I struggle to articulate my thoughts that I was asking for links.

All our HR policies have been rewritten by Stonewall. The word mother is nowhere in the maternity policy. Woman is nowhere in the menopause policy.
Pronouns are currently voluntary but I expect they will become mandatory at some point.

I work in a STEM area with a female recruitment problem. If someone uses "gender" I just reply with "sex" and use that in all communication, and refer to the Equality Act where necessary. I talk about women's issues using clear correct language.

I am also involved in accessibility issues (for personal reasons), so that helps to show I'm not just an awful middle-aged TERF. The lack of interest in disabilities at work is fucking disgraceful.

Thanks all. I think this will be my approach. No need for links perhaps. Just, it's not for me.

A recent advert...

Blimey the woke bubble has burst there!

You can only intervene where it's relevant really.
Eg when you have training about LGBTQ+ issues you can challenge any regressive stereotyping that you hear about with regard to gender identity.
When I am onboarding new starters I always make clear that they don't have to specify pronouns on their emails etc.

Mentioning that you’re worried that Stonewall have turned homophobic and are implying people are ‘sexual racists’ for being LGB (ie anyone same-sex attracted) should do it, surely?

It’s beyond fucked up and trampling on the proud history of that organisation. No decent workplace should have anything to do with them and loads are cutting ties.

Love the advert!

I deal with it by just quietly not engaging with it all, so I don’t put pronouns - far too scared to proactively say anything! I’m a coward though! There was a video that came out recently saying that basically questioning the safety of female spaces, questioning young kids being taught about changing gender, and referring to cis gender people as biological women or men is something called ‘dog whistling’ which is akin to racism…I did think what?!? I can’t be the only person with a raised eyebrow, but I’m far too scared to say anything, and also don’t want to be thought of as homophobic which I’m totally not! As it all seems tied up in the general pride activity IYSWIM.

Surely that's a breach of the Equality Act... Sex is a protected characteristic. They can't just erase sex based language out of their policies.