Pronoun Awareness Day 2022

By: Anonymous Writer

Knowing people’s pronouns is important because it is disrespectful and sometimes upsetting to use the wrong pronouns for someone. I interviewed a few students about how it felt for them when people used the wrong pronouns for them, and they described it as hurtful and uncomfortable. If you don’t know someone’s pronouns, you should always ask. If said person is unavailable, you should use their name or “they”, a gender-neutral pronoun, to talk about them.

As I said above, you should always ask someone’s pronouns if you don’t know/don’t remember them. Asking for pronouns is not the same as asking “Are you a boy or a girl?” It is rude as one, it implies that there are only two genders, and two, that it won’t change at all. Asking people’s pronouns and asking their sexuality are also two entirely different things. Pronouns are important to know so that everyone is comfortable. Questions relating to sexuality can make people uncomfortable and can also be unnecessary and rude.

Here are some things you can do to support pronoun awareness:

Wear a nametag or something similar with your pronouns on it
Keep track of people’s pronouns; have a page in your binder and write people’s pronouns in as you learn them
There are some people whose pronouns change. You can ask their pronouns on a regular basis or you can ask them to tell you when their pronouns change.
Buy a pronoun pin from Dr. Nichols - they are available in the library until November 18th.
Try to get people’s pronouns right, but if you get them wrong, apologize.