Preferred Pronouns

Status
Not open for further replies.
"To be clear the question is about asking everyone pronouns. Some Brock Lesner looking alpha male to the most feminine of ladies. "
Do you ask people when you first meet them? I get calling people by the names they prefer, we already do that.

Honestly I’ve probably only asked 1 person their pronouns? Per @rwc101 now days a lot of people have them on their various profiles, most of people I meet in a professional context I exchange cards or look up on LinkedIn.

My 2nd cousin is trans and you’d screw it up so I’m sure for her it’s nice for someone to ask and not to have to feel like she’s having to ask for something. To be clear she probably wouldn’t say anything all day and would deal with it.

I kinda think of it as shifting the “awkwardness” from the client or person you are interacting with over to yourself, you’re saying “hey this is an awkward, I’m breaking the ice so you don’t have too.”
 
Last edited by a moderator:
There may be more recent rulings but this one came up first. It does specify in the article that the ruling may apply only to academia. Requiring a person to say only certain things, things they don't believe logically stands opposed to.a persons free speech rights.
That being said, if a person isn't toeing the company line, there's a myriad of ways a human resources manager with an imagination can eliminate an employee.
Free speech “rights” only relate to government action. Private employees have no 1stA protection from their employer’s rules.
 
I kinda think of it as shifting the “awkwardness” from the client or person you are interacting with over to yourself, you’re saying “hey this is an awkward, I’m breaking the ice so you don’t have too.”
Yea, I agree. Seems like a lot to ask in order to save awkwardness from a very small percentage of that community. I believe a larger percentage may have a judgmental/awkward impression if asked. I'm not in sales, but I could see it backfiring in that setting.
 
Who do I talk to about changing my name on here? “Showtime formally known as brockel”. Is that to long?

You just change it on your profile and the one of the admins has to approve.
 
For me its "and this is what you are worried about ? " when confronted with "pronoun preference "

War in Ukraine, boots on the ground in Somalia, interest rates, inflation, gas prices, crime and homelessness continue to increase, the Southern border leaks like a sieve, and more and more states are abandoning the NSBA and we are worried about someone being upset because we used a pronoun they didn't like.

If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, I am going to call it a duck--but if they say, no I am a goose, fine I will call you a goose and move on.

I can not tell you how many times this came up when i was in college. People worked, full time, at being offended, at something.
 
Care to elaborate on what the training was like?
Why concern is first impressions. I have a big problem starting off an interaction with a question many people might find ridiculous or offensive in order to perhaps please a small percentage of people. If people are treated with respect, is this really a big problem.
To be clear the question is about asking everyone pronouns. Some Brock Lesner looking alpha male to the most feminine of ladies. Seems insincere and virtue signally to me.
The training was actually pretty good. It went through the civil rights history of it, covered terminology, and then went into statistical differences across populations for various things.

I see your point in the awkwardness. All of this is very foreign to me; I’ll freely profess my ignorance on a lot of this broad subject. In certain capacities I can see it being entirely appropriate and without any need for feeling awkward.

In other circumstances, yeah. I’d feel pretty strange. I think @wllm touched on a really good point though. If I make an assumption based on appearance, 1) not sure that is fair and 2) I’ve now put the responsibility on the other person to correct me if I assumed wrong.

Honestly I bet the day is quickly coming where I’ll be required to. That’s okay. “My name is so and so, how would you like me to address you?”

I get the discomfort. But, like you said as long as we’re striving to act respectfully, I think n the discomfort is very surmountable.
 
My employer (yes, academia) allowed employees to change their pronouns in the HR system we all use. There were a few people I work with that changed their pronouns. Took a while to adjust, but I couldn't care less so long as they answer my emails on time.

Asking someone their pronouns as soon as you meet does sound awkward. Including your preferred pronouns in an email signature or Zoom username is becoming the norm though.
It can be awkward to ask people you're just meeting, but I find if I don't want to ask I can usually just use ambiguous terms for a bit and they'll give it away.
The (kind of sensible) trend seems to be just putting it out there so people don't have to ask. At this point, many, if not most of the people I work with have their pronouns on the signature of their emails, on their zoom profile, etc. It's been a big change in the last couple of years.
 
There are some companies who are telling those they/them/it to hit the road.


Kraken, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, will pay employees four months' worth of wages to leave if they disagree with its values, according to The New York Times.

In a Wednesday report detailing internal cultural turmoil at the company, the publication cited interviews with Kraken employees who recounted "hurtful" comments around preferred pronouns and demeaning statements toward women, among other incendiary remarks, made by CEO Jesse Powell.

The employees also said Powell held a companywide meeting on June 1 in which he unveiled the program, called "Jet Ski," designed to incentivize employees to leave if they don't believe in Kraken's crypto-typical libertarian principles, the Times reported.

A 31-page document, known as "Kraken Culture Explained," positioned the program as a "recommitment" to the company's core values. Employees have until June 20 to participate in the buyouts, the Times reported.


"If you want to leave Kraken, we want it to feel like you are hopping on a jet ski and heading happily to your next adventure!" read a memo about the buyouts, according to the Times.

Kraken did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

On Monday, Kraken executive Christina Yee wrote in Slack to employees that the "C.E.O, company, and culture are not going to change in a meaningful way," urging workers to go "somewhere that doesn't disgust you," the Times reported.

In anticipation of the articles' publication, Powell said on Twitter Wednesday that "most people don't care and just want to work, but they can't be productive while triggered people keep dragging them in to debates and therapy sessions. The answer for us was to just lay out the culture doc and say: agree and commit, disagree and commit, or take the cash."


"20 people out of 3200" employees weren't on board with the company's values, Powell said, while noting there were "a few heated debates."

Anti-establishment sentiment is common in the cryptocurrency and other decentralized finance spaces. It's given the industry common ground with some conservative figures who decry "woke" ideals in favor of what they view as free speech.

Powell's Kraken culture manifesto includes a section entitled "we don't forbid offensiveness," stresses the importance of having a "tolerance for diverse thinking," and said "law-abiding citizens should be able to arm themselves," according to the Times.

Powell isn't alone in his stance. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has similarly said a "woke mind virus" is hurting business at streaming giant Netflix, which also shared a culture memo with employees in May.


The company told employees to quit if they don't agree with the content that it showcases, such as controversial comedian Dave Chappelle's program, which caused backlash over jokes about transgender people.

Musk retweeted the news with the caption, "Good move by @netflix."
 
I identify as someone who drew my Wyoming deer tag. Call me tagdrawer Mchunter. Think that will work with the warden? I don't play the pronoun crap. I will pretend I don't remember your name if you want to pretend you are something. See if I care if you don't like it. Spoiler, I don't. I'm too old to give a crap anymore.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top