Zack Jenio
This summer I came to NC State earlier than most of my freshman peers as I did the Summer Start program. Among my classes, I took the class Transition into a Diverse Community (because it was both required and would count as my U.S. Diversity credit). On our first day we made name signs that would sit on our desks, but in addition to our names we had to put down which pronouns we would prefer.
At first I was pretty thrown off and didn’t even know what that meant. Luckily someone explained to me that it just meant whether a person uses he, she, they or some other pronoun. Yet, this wasn’t the end of seeing “pronouns” as I would see them in the signature of professors’ and faculty members’ emails as well. Growing up in the Middle East, where the LGBT community is heavily persecuted, I had never seen anything like this.
However, as I’ve learned more about the trans community here at NC State, I’ve learned about the importance of acknowledging someone by their preferred pronouns to create a safe environment. As Malcolm Harris explains, “Egalitarian movements won’t work if we keep putting the onus on the non-conforming.” Therefore, it is crucial for cisgender students and faculty to normalize stating their pronouns in order for these conversations to be standard and common so that they are easy for transgender students and faculty.
Cisgender refers to someone that exclusively identifies as their sex assigned at birth, as opposed to someone whose gender identity does not exclusively align with their sex assigned at birth. It is important to recognize that cisgender individuals make up the large majority, making this community crucial in the movement to normalize pronouns.
Next, it doesn’t hurt anyone to say what your pronouns are. It only takes around three syllables to say your preferred pronouns (he/him/his, she/her/hers, they/them/theirs). When I first heard cisgender people stating their pronouns, I thought “I don’t want to do that, that’s too liberal for me.” But when you think about it, you lose nothing by stating your pronouns, and the trans community gains whenever your introduction regularly includes your pronouns.
This transition might feel uncomfortable at first while trying to habituate the phrase, but this type of discomfort is needed to create comfort and a safe environment. Readers shouldn’t groan over the phrase “safe environment” thinking “ugh, another snowflake safe space,” but should recognize that it means a working environment where all students and people feel safe. Our society doesn’t condone hostile, antagonistic working environments for women or people of color, so why should we push aside gender identity?
Another point that often deters some cisgender students and faculty from stating their pronouns is the idea that it is pretentious. To refute this, the impact of cisgender people establishing pronoun usage in community is much larger than an idea of being ostentatious. If someone has the intent and purpose to be an ally for the trans community and not to try and show how “woke” they are, then stating your pronouns is not pretentious.
Even if you don’t agree with the idea of gender fluidity and different gender identities, it is polite and courteous to at least respect and tolerate someone’s preferred pronouns. I’m not forcing you to change your mind regarding gender identity, but I am asking for more of the cisgender community to regularly introduce themselves with their pronouns so that all NC State students can feel safe and comfortable to be who they are.