By J. Stein

Does sharing gender pronouns in the workplace matter? After all, it sounds like such a simple and kind gesture. Who wouldn’t want to make their colleagues feel more comfortable and respected in the workplace? But, like many initiatives that seemed a good idea at the time, sharing pronouns has a much wider negative impact, particularly for women.

This guide will explore the creeping expectation that everyone (whether trans or not) has a "gender identity", which should be expressed to others via a particular pronoun. The ritual, like others promoted by the gender identity movement (e.g., using the phrase "people that menstruate" instead of "women", or "assigned female at birth" instead of "female"), works to undermine the evidential fact that across the globe women are oppressed socially, politically, and economically because of their sex and not because they somehow identify with their subordination. To refer to people by gender identity rather than sex is an attempt to erase the class of women and prevent them from fighting for their liberation. As Helen Joyce observed in her recent book ‘Trans’, “… because of gender identity ideology, the quest for the liberation of people with female bodies has arrived at an extraordinary position: that they do not even constitute a group that merits a name”.

If you're considering whether to share your pronouns or your workplace is encouraging you to do it and you're unsure if it's something you're comfortable with, this guide will explain the issues involved.

What is a pronoun anyway?

Pronouns are small words that replace nouns. The practice of stating pronouns refers to third-person pronouns such as she, he, and they. Without third-person pronouns, the writing is poor, wordy, and repetitive. For instance: Have you heard of that feminist? I admire that feminist. That feminist had significant influence on the way I view the world.

With third-person pronouns, the text is clear, concise, and easily understood: Have you heard of that feminist? I admire her. She had significant influence on the way I view the world.

Why are pronouns such a hot topic right now?

More and more workplaces are asking employees to state their pronouns in email signatures or when introducing themselves at meetings. This is a relatively new phenomenon and is a practice devised and encouraged by the gender identity movement.

Why do Gender Identity Activists now want everyone (not just trans people) to declare their preferred pronouns?

Gender Identity Activists believe you should declare your preferred pronouns, for instance, in your email signature or when you meet a colleague for the first time to avoid "misgendering people" and thus to show how kind, respectful, and inclusive you are. They argue that by taking (what appears to be) a simple and painless action, you can demonstrate that you are an ally to trans and non-binary people and normalise discussions related to gender identity.

If you think that pronouns should simply indicate a person's sex and have no other significance, you are a dinosaur. The view on the 'right side of history', apparently, is that everyone should be able to choose their pronouns based on their chosen gender or, quite frankly, whatever they want their pronoun to be, for whatever reason they choose. And God forbid you have other things on your mind than worrying about your pronouns (such as getting on with your job). That only reinforces your privilege as a person whose "gender identity matches that assigned at birth" with the luxury of having other concerns.

Why are many people against stating pronouns?

Performing the ritual of pronoun declaration indicates to others that you believe in gender identity theory, that you yourself have a "gender identity" and that your "gender identity" is relevant during every social interaction. Under this belief system, a woman is someone who performs the gender stereotype of femininity, rather than someone who has a female body.

Thus, the five-year-old girl who has her clitoris and labia sliced off during the practice of female genital mutilation and is at risk of severe pain, prolonged bleeding, infection, infertility and even death, is suffering, not because she has a female body and her society wants to control her sexuality, but because she identifies as “cisgender”. Similarly, the nine-year-old girl who is compelled to marry a forty-year-old man and be deprived of her right to health, education and development is suffering, not because of sex-based inequality in her country, but because she also identifies somewhere on the feminine side of the "Gender Spectrum". Presumably the female foetus aborted at 15 weeks is killed, not because she has a developing female body and her society values female bodies less than male bodies, but because she didn't get the Gender Woo Woo memo explaining how gender identity trumps material fact. 

The oppression of women has been built on the fundamental reality that they have female bodies. If we can’t name the problem we can’t fight it. Gender identities aren't distributed in the birthing suite. No one can 'identify' as a woman, nor can they identify out of being one; you either are one or you are not. Woman is not a feeling. It's not a costume, an emotion, or a performance. It's just a body. A body that is oppressed in a multitude of ways, not because of identity, but because of sex. A body that requires certain protections in law because it is vulnerable to physical violence from men and at risk of exploitation because of its reproductive function. "Feminists don't argue that sex is real because it is "the easiest explanation to believe" or because of what the media tells us. We argue sex is real because from the moment an ultrasound reveals a baby is female, her subjugation begins…" - Raquel Rosario Sánchez.

Gender identity theory is deeply offensive to many, as is apparent if one compares it to the equally distasteful belief that "anyone should be able to identify as any race they choose, regardless of their skin colour". Women across the globe, especially those fighting for their rights, should not be pressured into using the language of fantasy over the language of physical reality.

By appeasing the gender identity activists and participating in the ritual of pronoun declaration, you are not being kind or inclusive, you are making a political statement that obscures the reality of female oppression. You are swearing allegiance by announcing publicly that you believe gender, a social construct enforced by the patriarchy, should take precedence over the material reality of sex. You are falling into the gender identity activist's trap, revealing yourself as a foot soldier in a war in which friend or foe must be easily identified.

If you don't believe in the dogma of gender identity, don't declare your pronouns to anyone.

Why are many trans people against the practice of stating preferred pronouns?

Many trans people also argue against the normalisation of pronoun sharing because it forces people to disclose personal information when they may not want to.

What does the law say about stating pronouns? Will I lose my job if I don't participate?

In the UK, the belief that biological sex is real, important, and immutable is protected under the Equality Act which recognises the two sexes: female, and male. This was reinforced following Maya Forstater's recent employment tribunal win which, significantly for those of us campaigning for sex-based rights, made clear that it is unlawful to discriminate against those who recognise women as a class of people identified on the basis of their sex.

Here are three excellent resources on the legality of pronoun declaration with guidance for how to respond if your workplace introduces the practice.

1. The Sex Matters Guide to Pronouns at Work – "Stating pronouns is part of a belief system and one not everyone is signed up to. Employers are used to accommodating a range of different beliefs among their staff and customers. Similar to religion: some colleagues may observe prayer or dietary rituals and we respect these without actively taking part ourselves if we don't share their beliefs."

1. Do I have to share my pronouns at work? A post by Women's Place UK – "Freedom of speech is protected in the UK including the right not to say something that you disagree with or don't want to say."

1. Pronouns: Compulsion and Controversy, a post by The Legal Feminist - "the law recognises two sexes (male and female) through s.212 Equality Act 2010, and that a person can change their legal sex from one to the other by operation of the GRA 2004. There is also established case law which recognises that a person's gender can be central to their private life protected by Article 8. The law does not lay down that a) everyone has a gender or b) that gender is innate."

Following the Maya Forstater v CGD judgement although it is unlikely that you would lose your job because of your beliefs about sex-based rights, if you are fired or if you face other discriminations after not "declaring your pronouns", please reach out to feminists in the movement.