Gender Pronouns at Work
Discussion
Assuming you have a reasonable understanding of English it is not all that difficult.
I never use Mr/Mrs/Ms or the like.
When addressing a group I tend to use "those of you" etc.
Possessives are the biggest pain..".John presented their work", where reflexively I would say" John presented his work".
In such a case I would say something like "we had a presentation of John's work".
I avoid saying "his or her work" for instance.
I was doing this long before the whole idea of a separate TG grammar arrived, and it does the job moderately well.
I never use Mr/Mrs/Ms or the like.
When addressing a group I tend to use "those of you" etc.
Possessives are the biggest pain..".John presented their work", where reflexively I would say" John presented his work".
In such a case I would say something like "we had a presentation of John's work".
I avoid saying "his or her work" for instance.
I was doing this long before the whole idea of a separate TG grammar arrived, and it does the job moderately well.
RDMcG said:
Assuming you have a reasonable understanding of English it is not all that difficult.
I never use Mr/Mrs/Ms or the like.
When addressing a group I tend to use "those of you" etc.
Possessives are the biggest pain..".John presented their work", where reflexively I would say" John presented his work".
In such a case I would say something like "we had a presentation of John's work".
I avoid saying "his or her work" for instance.
I was doing this long before the whole idea of a separate TG grammar arrived, and it does the job moderately well.
It's standard practice responding to posts on forums like this, where you often can't tell gender from user names.I never use Mr/Mrs/Ms or the like.
When addressing a group I tend to use "those of you" etc.
Possessives are the biggest pain..".John presented their work", where reflexively I would say" John presented his work".
In such a case I would say something like "we had a presentation of John's work".
I avoid saying "his or her work" for instance.
I was doing this long before the whole idea of a separate TG grammar arrived, and it does the job moderately well.
In global business communications, you often see someone in another country assume a person's gender and get it wrong. Doesn't seem to cause any issues.
Johnnytheboy said:
towser said:
At work I've recently noticed email signatures appearing with gender pronouns being added ( he / him, she / her etc...) and to be honest I haven't a clue what's going on. I'll be in a meeting with someone with such a signature and their gender is obvious to me.
I'm now a little wary that I'm unwittingly walking in a minefield and could say or do the wrong thing.
Can anyone enlighten me as to what's going on here?
I've never seen this; what industry or profession do you work in? I'm now a little wary that I'm unwittingly walking in a minefield and could say or do the wrong thing.
Can anyone enlighten me as to what's going on here?
John Smith
Head of Something or Other
Preferred pronouns: he/him/his
I aim not to be deliberately or offensively politically incorrect but this does smack slightly of making an issue for the sake of making an issue.
Wait till it comes to those meetings where the opening bit is a round table self introduction and is compulsory to announce preferred pronouns. I just refuse to comment, and if picked up on it just say you can call me what you like. As soon as one person bucks the system then others weigh in the same and it lightens things. Possibly demonstrates just how much this twaddle is genuinely hated.
DocJock said:
Flibble said:
If someone tells you their preferred pronoun and you don't use it, that's a bit like calling them the wrong name. It's pretty rude, but you might get away with it the first couple of times if its a genuine mistake.
Really we just need to ditch gendered pronouns and solve the whole issue, but that is another can of worms.
FTFY...Really we just need to ditch gender
The concept of gender is the entire problem. Just stick to it being a language thing and the entire problem goes away.
It really is that simple.
People can behave however they want but you have a sex and the language should reflect that. Using perceived societal roles to dictate language, is a terrible idea and just look where it has got us!!
What a mess...
Edited by Dagnir on Friday 23 October 07:48
Christ on a stick, these people need real jobs.
With the greatest respect to anyone, who is erm less traditional in their gender, but nobody cares.
I think we should adopt the use of only Surnames. No Mr, Mrs, miss, Dr, prof, or mz,
The occasional sarcastic yes boss. To an equal, always goes down well.
Or rude nicknames. Why am I called pony? Must be that I'm hung like a horse.
With the greatest respect to anyone, who is erm less traditional in their gender, but nobody cares.
I think we should adopt the use of only Surnames. No Mr, Mrs, miss, Dr, prof, or mz,
The occasional sarcastic yes boss. To an equal, always goes down well.
Or rude nicknames. Why am I called pony? Must be that I'm hung like a horse.
Flibble said:
RDMcG said:
Sy1441 said:
I was born a male but I identify as a Toaster.
Toasty/Toaster/Toasted.
Clearly quite well bread.Toasty/Toaster/Toasted.
At a place where I used to work, there was someone featured in the diversity newsletter who sometimes came to work dressed as a man, and sometimes came to work dressed as a woman. What they were requesting was that if you phoned them up, you first asked whether you were speaking to Philip or Philippa, and then continued to treat them as either male or female depending on the answer. Obviously if you met them in person, this didn't apply, you could just take your cue from the appearance. No idea how you were supposed to work out how to address a reply to an email that had been sent on a previous day.
I think they eventually worked out what a diva they were being, because about 3 years later they had changed their name to "Pips", which was to be used at all times.
I think they eventually worked out what a diva they were being, because about 3 years later they had changed their name to "Pips", which was to be used at all times.
whitesocks said:
At my work place, we recently have had a training module that has basically taught us not to be Sexist/Racist/Transphobic or Homophobic to out fellow staff members. As if none of us knew how not to be those things.
Patronising does'nt even cover it.
Your company is ticking a box and covering their arse as best they can, anyone with half a brain will know that you shouldn't be sexist/racist/transphobic etc, they just have to show that they are doing the correct thing so nothing comes and bites them on the arse later.Patronising does'nt even cover it.
It is quite common on both email and in video calls now. I was in a Zoom meeting on Wednesday and next to each persons name was (she/her) (he/him) or (they/them).
I find it easier to get into the habit of not using he/she etc.
Instead of saying "I read the report produced by Charlotte and can confirm she has covered all the relevant points" I would say "I read the report produced by Charlotte and confirm they have covered all the relevant points".
Instead of saying "I will be meeting with her later" I would say "I will be meeting with them later"
It's fairly straightforward once you get used to it.
I find it easier to get into the habit of not using he/she etc.
Instead of saying "I read the report produced by Charlotte and can confirm she has covered all the relevant points" I would say "I read the report produced by Charlotte and confirm they have covered all the relevant points".
Instead of saying "I will be meeting with her later" I would say "I will be meeting with them later"
It's fairly straightforward once you get used to it.
Dromedary66 said:
Yes, we have some of those where I work as well. It's actually quite a useful advanced warning that that person is a bit of a c*nt.
I can honestly say haven't found that at all.I would go the other way and say that the c*nts are the ones that moan about 'political correctness' and the fact they have to make a tiny change to their vocabulary to make others feel more welcome. Those ones are the real t
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