Guest Blog by Work Experience Bethan Olver – “The Importance of Pronouns”

Wednesday October 20, 2021

We use pronouns in our everyday lives, but recently many more people have begun to include their pronouns on their social media accounts, at the end of emails etc.

The reason for this is to help normalise the inclusion of pronouns for those who are transgender, agender, non-binary and other gender identities where the correct pronoun may not be used based on the appearance of a person.

We have a gender binary society, where the ‘normal’ is assumed. People that appear to fit the male binary will be assumed to have he/him pronouns and people that appear to fit the female binary will be assumed to have she/her pronouns. This can be an extremely harmful stereotype. So to stop the misgendering of people that may not use the pronouns that people assume they do, people include their pronouns everywhere possible to ensure that people know what pronouns to use for them.

Believe it or not, we all have pronouns. And believe it or not, not everyone will use she/her or he/him. Many people use they/them pronouns or a combination like she/they or he/they. There are also neo-pronouns like xe/xem/xir. It’s extremely important to respect someone’s pronouns as misgendering can make people feel extremely uncomfortable and can cause gender dysphoria.

Gender dysphoria is when someone who does not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth feels a sense of unease because of the mismatch with their gender identity and the gender they were assigned at birth. Oppositely, gender euphoria is a feeling of happiness because someone feels they present as their gender – this is what using the correct pronouns can do. This is the reason why people are beginning to include their pronouns everywhere that they can.

It is up to all of us to create a more inclusive society where we have spaces on forms and accounts dedicated to preferred pronouns. A place where people ask what pronouns people use before speaking to them. People can understand why we assume, it’s just a habit, but we all need to work to stop assuming.

It is okay to get it wrong sometimes as long as we correct ourselves. Many Gender stereotypes are based on misogynistic values. Gender binaries were created by us and need to be broken down by us too. The only way this will happen is by educating and correcting each other and raising the younger generations to not have these biases. Doing small things like checking with people what their pronouns are, including pronouns at the end of emails and on social media accounts is a starting point for this.

Preventing People Problems

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