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Would you put your gender pronouns in a work email?
I'm cisgender and I would add my pronouns 16%  16%  [ 5 ]
I'm cisgender and I would not add my pronouns 66%  66%  [ 21 ]
I'm genderqueer (trans, non-binary, other) and I would add my pronouns 9%  9%  [ 3 ]
I'm genderqueer (trans, non-binary, other) and I would not add my pronouns 9%  9%  [ 3 ]
Total votes : 32

MrsPeel
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13 Apr 2021, 5:05 am

So there's a trend now to put your gender pronouns in your email signature at work.
Like, putting after your name (she/her/her) or (they/them/their) or (ze/zem/zir) or whatever.
I'm thinking about doing this also but not sure how it will come across within a team of professional engineers.

Anyway, just wondering if my fellow WPeers would add their gender pronouns to a work email?
And your reasons?
(Or vote anonymously if you want to keep your gender identity private)

(nb. cisgender means your gender identity is the same as your sex at birth, I believe)



kraftiekortie
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13 Apr 2021, 8:11 am

Nope....my pronouns speak for themselves.

I find it the height of "political correctness" to have to put your pronouns after your name in an email.

I don't know if I'd like it if somebody called me "she"----but I wouldn't go to HR to complain about it :wink:



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13 Apr 2021, 8:44 am

My gender pronouns should be obvious to all: "His Excellency", "He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed", et cetera.

:wink:


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OutsideView
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13 Apr 2021, 8:52 am

I have no particular desire to let other people know my gender so I wouldn't bother. If it helped trans people feel more comfortable I might start doing it though (if I had a job). Plus, it could help avoid confusion (like the correction I added under my profile pic here).


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MrsPeel
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14 Apr 2021, 5:20 am

Yeah. Probably my situation is a bit different, I have two reasons for considering adding my pronouns:

- my first name is not gendered, it's usually a girl's name but can be a boy's name also - so people can't be sure of my gender from looking at my email signature. So stating pronouns would avoid that confusion.

- Also because I'm gender non-conforming and tend to dress in men's clothes, I can get mistaken for a transmale so people can get confused over which pronouns they are supposed to use. So having them stated would clarify that and avoid embarrassment, I think.

Personally, I don't care what pronouns people use for me, I don't care at all if I'm mis-gendered, it's more about saving other people from embarrassment.

I actually checked with my boss today and he said it was fine, so I might give it a go.

Though I'm not entirely sure it's a good idea, as I've seen some people suggest stating pronouns is just a fad or a way to get a attention, or to show how 'woke' you are. What do they call it, virtue signalling? And I'm not really into that kind of thing.

Anyone else thought about it?



Last edited by MrsPeel on 14 Apr 2021, 5:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

Steve1963
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14 Apr 2021, 5:23 am

Where I work it is encouraged to add gender pronouns to our email signature. I did it because I saw no logical reason not to.



magz
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14 Apr 2021, 6:31 am

In my native language, grammatic gender works differently than in English and including your pronouns would be pointless in most cases.
Additionally, we don't have gender-neutral first names (it's even in the local law). Transpeople practically always change their first names.
A foreigner with a first name not obviously recognizable as gendered could include their pronouns, I guess, but "pan"/"pani" - an equivalent of "sir"/"lady" - would feel more natural.


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MrsPeel
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14 Apr 2021, 6:54 am

That's interesting.
I'm trying to think back to the (very basic) language lessons I had at school, and I seem to remember French would have gendered pronouns, il and elle, but German would have sie for both genders, is it like that?



magz
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14 Apr 2021, 6:57 am

I never learned French, and in German, the "Sie" used in adressing one politely is, if I remember correctly, literally "they".


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MrsPeel
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14 Apr 2021, 7:10 am

Oh, I must have forgotten all those school lessons! After looking it up, German usually has er and sie for he and she, but they have non-gendered pronouns also, like xier.



OutsideView
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14 Apr 2021, 8:09 am

MrsPeel wrote:
Personally, I don't care what pronouns people use for me, I don't care at all if I'm mis-gendered, it's more about saving other people from embarrassment.

That's exactly how I feel.


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kraftiekortie
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14 Apr 2021, 8:10 am

If I was told to do it, I'd do it. Otherwise, I'd just leave well enough alone.

They do it at the college library where I work--though it's optional.

They don't do it at my court job.



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14 Apr 2021, 12:25 pm

I don't.

I don't see any need to. I have a male name, look like a male, and I really couldn't care less if someone called me "she" rather than "he".



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14 Apr 2021, 12:30 pm

I'm trans. If there wasnt anyone else doing it I wouldn't add my pronouns, but if a few people were I would do it.

I don't usually put my pronouns anywhere if other people aren't, because people will whine about it like it's "too PC" and somehow affects them negatively. If other people do it though people are less likely to whine, so I'd do it.



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17 Apr 2021, 1:40 am

I am cis and would not, unless the majority were in my workplace. Many trans people, after all, wish to simply live as their gender, and seeing people tip-toe around trans/gender issues in their presence makes them feel like they are being recognized as "different." Other trans people disagree with this pov of course. I don't really have strong feeling on this.



threetoed snail
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17 Apr 2021, 3:09 am

I don't think I would ever do it unless obligated to. My name and my appearance are both very unambiguous. Declaring preferred pronouns would be nothing but a political statement (of something I don't agree with anyway).

If gendered language is going to be an issue, then in my opinion the best solution by far would be to establish universally-applicable grammatical rules and words for gender-neutral language (which can always be very useful regardless of political agendas anyway, particularly in legal texts and impersonal communication in general) that could then be adopted as policy by organizations and government bodies that chose to do so (or were possibly encouraged or mandated to do so, as appropriate), until eventually it became a regular part of the language more broadly.

There would be growing pains involved, obviously, but comparatively speaking it would save everyone so much drama. It would also functionally improve the language and probably be a great tool for the promotion of gender equality in general through the reduction of implicit bias, which is something I'm definitely in favor of. I find it disappointing that I've never even seen this idea being proposed by anyone, let alone advocated.


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