Anyone else seeing fewer pronouns in the workplace?

[Pedestrian0]

I work in a large Stonewalled organisation. A couple of years ago everyone was fully 'she/her/hers' on Teams and in emails but I've noticed a real drop off recently and I'm so pleased. I think/hope people are getting a bit tired of the silly business. Now the pronoun-staters are very definitely in a minority.

I can also confidently say that pronouns on Teams or email have NEVER enhanced any interaction I've had at the company over the past five years. I've seen one they/them and frankly everyone referred to the obvious male as 'he' if we have reason to refer to him when he isn't around. It's not malicious, it's just the obvious pronoun to use for an obvious male. Everyone else just has sex-based pronouns. But - if you can't tell by the beard and obviously male features you can tell by the name 'John'. No need for the he/hims. It's really just virtue signalling and makes me eyeroll a lot.

I like that it's dropping away because the fewer people who do it, the more it'll drop out of fashion. But is it just my work or is anyone else seeing this?

I know some people with great qualities who have pronouns in their email signatures, so I hope you’re not making assumptions too quickly!

Probably if I had still been at work I would have gone along with the crowd, not having given the whole subject of genderism any depth of thought. Though I might have noticed the coercion, which is something I tend to react against where I see it.

This is heartening, thanks for sharing it. Now that Cass has highlighted the fact that this movement is harming kids, people might not be so keen to be associated with it.

Think out of my team we have one with pronouns still in her signature and they have that much stuff in there that I don't think they know what's in there (they just keep adding all the extra shit management try to make us put in).

Not so much change - but the habitual pronoun people have moved on to different posts.

I have a friend who works in comms for a bank. She didn’t say outright they’re ditching the trans stuff, but she did say that they are going to gradually stop marking any awareness days on social media because it was becoming ‘too political’.

An anecdote slightly in the opposite direction, someone I know (male) who is in a fairly senior post in a university went to an online senior management meeting recently in his institution where everyone in the meeting was a middle aged white man and the majority of them had pronouns displayed (all he/him). He thinks the whole thing is ridiculous so he made a joke about how the pronouns weren’t really necessary given they were all the same and it went down like a lead balloon 😂

I don’t think it is dying out at universities yet unfortunately, at least not in a certain type of role.

Funny moment in work recently. Have changed a few deets

Had a town Hall type meeting. Got to the "free talk" bit and someone pipes up "you'll have all noticed I've started putting my pronouns on my email footer to show my solidarity with lbgtsfhfvhhvva+++ community and I think it would be great if everyone would join me and update theirs after this meeting"

::::::tumbleweed::::::::

I actually felt sorry for the guy as you could FEEL that he was expecting applause or mutters of agreement by the way he proudly looked around but it was excruciating silence. He just sat down and CEO said "ok thanks John, anyone have any other comments..... about the business?"

Woman next to me mutters she hadnt noticed and he emails her daily 😬

Not a single person has added their pronouns and his comment was left out of the minutes 🤣

Is Martin Lewis reading Mumsnet? He's just done a poll on twitter about this!

Ooh thank you for this thread, I hadn't noticed and was a bit scared to look but yes noticeably fewer pronouns being used!

Few people in my department added them - and I certainly didn't. But we have never been put under any pressure to do so. I would say at all online meetings I attend it is also only a small number who do. If I ever get asked in a poll, survey form to be filled out etc I just plump for other/prefer not to say.

Interestingly, just seen a poll by Martin Lewis about whether you use pronouns split into above and below 35 on twitter - I voted, saw the results and then the tweet got deleted. It was overwhelmingly no from both age groups.

Cross post with @kinkytoes !

In our big department Teams meetings the speakers used to introduce themselves with pronouns. Hardly anyone does now.
Even when the DEI team give an update only one or two of them state pronouns!

The organisation I do some freelance work for has never been into that nonsense. We have our first and surnames on our badges, nothing else. Nobody has ever mentioned pronouns to me (surely that is not because they know I would just laugh in their faces?)

I like to think we are a very sensible bunch.

@Mytholmroyd 😄 he's reposted with a slightly different age range. Results are similar!

Yes. I'm part of the DE&I volunteer group at my charity. We had a recent meeting of a dozen people and there were zero pronouns on screens.

The Martyn Lewis poll is still up on Twitter/X. Think he deleted the original to change the age range.

Ah yes he has - just seen it and voted again!

Secondary school teacher here - it shows no sign of going out of fashion yet unfortunately.

Interestingly I just scrolled through some emails and it seems like some departments are more likely to put pronouns than others. Humanities more than stem. Possibly surprising too, support staff (receptionists, HR, IT support) don't seem to put them either.

I would push back quite stoutly if I was ever asked to, but I think they know this so haven't asked.

They've seemingly quietly dropped their policy of encouraging students to use the changing rooms they "feel most comfortable in"

Actually I've just had an email from the LA which was devoid of pronouns.

In the past they've had them. 🤔

Yep, take-up was slow in my multinational employer. I've noticed one of the more vocal colleagues has quietly dropped her pronouns from her email signature. Anecdata, but interesting to observe the pattern...

Martin Lewis has this as his poll questions today. Some interesting answers on the Facebook post.

My male line manager put pronouns in his email signature fairly recently, but I notice he has taken them off now. I was debating with myself whether to ask him about it and hint that it made him look a dick, so am please he made the decision for himself.

There is hardly anything about Pride this year although I think they are arranging a bus to one of the marches, but it is being done through the company LGBTQIAWTF++ group rather than being plastered all over the front page of the intranet.

Joined an online workshop recently where one man very pointedly gave his 'he/him' pronouns (quelle farking surprise) before speaking.

Just as pointedly, not one other person did so.

Oh hi Martin, if so!

I like the neutral way he has worded the poll. The comments are interesting. Sometimes I think keeping things neutral and then letting something like that run really shows the participants in the conversation for what they are.

Yes, I’ve noticed a lot of people have removed them in my organisation. They were very big on it a few years back and even added gender reassignment to to our Bupa healthcare offering! Rarely see pronouns in emails now except maybe HR or the DEI teams

Work in a big public sector org. Quite a few colleagues have pronouns in their signatures and on Teams though I assume a lot of that is because new starters are prompted for pronouns when filling in their details. It's not obligatory to make a choice and you can leave the field blank. I saw fae/faeself was an option and considered it, but it seemed likely people would know I was taking the piss.

On the other hand, nobody declares their pronouns in meetings, and it's been quite a while since I've seen an exhortation from seniors to put pronouns in your signature.