submitted 1 year ago by Kajo@beehaw.org to c/lgbtq_plus@beehaw.org

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I have a question about the pronouns in profiles. I hope it won't be perceived as transphobic, that's not my intention. I'm not a native English speaker, so perhaps that's where my misunderstanding (and possibly awkward turn of phrases) comes from.

Why specify the object pronoun when the subject pronoun is given?

For example, why display [she/her], and not just [she]?

Shouldn't the slash be reserved for people who recognize themselves in more than one gender, like [she/they]?

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[-] apotheotic@beehaw.org 29 points 1 year ago

I think some of it is sort of to make people with more than one pronoun, or neopronouns, stand out less or feel less like an "othered" group.

If people with """""normal""""" pronoun usage just list their pronoun as "she" and anyone who uses multiple has to list "she/they" or someone who uses neopronouns needs to list "ve/vir/virs", this can make those parties feel more "other", perhaps. If everyone is listing multiple pronouns, even if they're sort of repeating themselves, then it levels the playing field and makes things more inclusive. Just a thought.

The other thing that comes to mind is that some people might be cool with "she" but not with "her". By specifying "she/her" you're explicitly telling people you're cool with it all.

At the end of the day the extra 4 or 5 characters isn't particularly high effort or high cost, and it seems to be what people run with for whatever reason they do - so I guess that's just how it be!