Why pronouns matter
Today I’m grateful a colleague who had the courage to ask why I recently added my pronouns (she / her) to my LinkedIn profile.
I’m grateful that we’ve built the kind of working relationship where they can tell me they don’t know something and trust I’ll explain without shaming or ridiculing them for not knowing.
I also just quickly want to express gratitude to @Ellie Wu who I noticed had done it some time ago, which prompted me to make the change first on another social account, and now here.
If you, also, are curious why I (and other people) are putting our pronouns in places like our LinkedIn profiles, here are some articles that may help, with some tl;dr info just in case:
Here’s why sharing pronouns can be important
"The most significant thing about publicly sharing pronouns is that it helps to normalize it," Stephenson says. "Further, when cisgender people share their pronouns publicly, it can help transgender individuals feel safer and more welcome in a social or workplace environment."
Why [he] Includes Pronouns in [his] Twitter Bio
“If everyone begins stating how they identify, then everyone can feel slightly more comfortable in picking the answer they want. This option goes against the norm of being stuck with the answer they were given.”
“They went on to state that they put their pronouns in their bio, not to feel special, but so that people who needed to identify themselves wouldn’t feel singled out.
There is no cost to creating this space for people, so why aren’t we doing it?”
If you've never been asked your pronouns, or you're not super up on the practice, sharing your pronouns may seem like a new concept.
As a cisgendered woman, except for several months around age 9-10, I’ve never been mistaken for a gender I’m not. We had just cut my hair short, and I still remember the discomfort when women my grandma’s age telling my mom what a “nice young man” she had when I would hold the door for them leaving a store.
I can’t imagine as an adult navigating a situation in business where someone misgenders me in an introduction (“you’re going to love working with him!”), email or in conversation. So if me adding my pronouns makes it easier for others where that could be an issue to feel more comfortable sharing what they prefer, then I am happy to play my very small part.