Pronouns campaign being launched at work

[PronounsAtWork]

I found out after the break that this is going ahead, although I don't know when I imagine it will probably be next month considering it's LGBTQ+ history month. I guess it means putting pronouns in our email signatures but probably with rainbow lanyards and the like as well. I've been stewing on whether to contact the DEI bod, especially how this campaign stands alongside the Supreme Court judgment. I'm just wondering if you wonderful women have any guidance for me at all?

So if pronouns are so unimportant, why do trans people get so upset about their use/lack of use?

i have two main issues with preferred pronouns. From a feminist perspective as many here have already said, I do not want to draw attention to the fact I am female as female people still get treated as lesser at the global company I work for, though they have this big song and dance about their DEI policy, run by a man btw.
My main issue though is that it puts people on edge when writing emails, meeting minutes, project plans etc as many neuro diverse, and probably many neuro typical, people want to do the right thing but struggle to remember who has what preferred pronoun. I want people to feel able to do their work, not trawl through email signatures verifying someone’s pronouns.

if you prefer people to use a different pronoun, you actively tell them and accept being misgendered sometimes, not hide it in a email signature and make people walk on glass.

Search me. All anyone needs to know about mine is that if they get them wrong I won't bite!

I honestly don't know how it helps anyone who is trans or non-binary or whatever to know that there are plenty of people who are perfectly fine if others use the pronouns when talking about them that are commonly, according to grammar rules, used for people of that sex. Please someone tell me: why would adding she/her to my email signature make a trans/non binary person feel better about themselves?

Because it enables them to complain to the board every single time someone misgenders a non-binary person who is very female-presenting (according to today's gender stereotypes).

#askmymenopausalbrainfoghowiknow

If a trans person doesn't specify their pronouns, there is a high risk people will upset them by using the ones they consider 'wrong', ie, their sexed based ones. So their well meaning allies came up with a way to protect them from this, by enabling them to tell people which they wanted. Unfortunately, this wasnt quite right either, because it just emphasises that if they didnt tell us they were 'a woman', we'd maybe not realise, which was also upsetting.
So, next idea.. how about we pretend that we might ALL be 'misgendered' if we don't state our preferred pronouns? That works!
By refusing to go along with it, you are sending the message that you have no fear of being misgendered, because there will never be any doubt you are a woman, unlike them. And that is also upsetting.

Preferred pronouns are arguably indirect sex discrimination because it's harder for menopausal women to remember them and men don't undergo menopause.

Good point!

@TheKeatingFive yes, but then I discuss those emails with others, and it is useful to say “Boona emailed me and I have responded to her.” “Veejaya needs additional time to complete x; I have asked him to provide estimates.” “Sam has requested an additional 10 days, but she has insufficient leave available so will need to take unpaid.”

I find it useful.

I know someone who has a lisp and finds her own name particularly hard to say. Fortunately it's a common name in our culture so she doesn't ever have to tell anyone how to pronounce it but the scenario you described would be really difficult for her.

These people on the 'right' side of history are so often inadvertently unkind, aren't they?!

But it's now gone beyond that, so that you give your pronouns as a public statement of faith. If you don't give your pronouns when invited to do so, it's deemed to be a public statement that you don't share the faith.

Yes indeed. But more so, that it's unkind not to go along with the pretence that we all face misgendering on the regular unless our badge tells people we're a man or woman. It's the modern day equivalent to pretend to be less intelligent than you are so you don't make a man feel bad. Pretend to be less obviously a woman than you are so you don't make some men feel bad.