The Awkwardness of Asking for Pronouns
Coming back to Uni this year in person, I noticed a lot of changes that were made around the school for the sake of gender inclusivity. Some of the major changes were the renaming of the bathrooms, the plan to create a gender neutral bathroom, and the addition of a gender neutral locker room. One of the things that stood out to me more was a minor change. I found that, for the first time in my life, some of the teachers were introducing themselves using their pronouns, and asking students to share their own. I thought it was great that some teachers were sharing their pronouns because it helps normalize sharing ones pronouns. When teachers ask students to share their pronouns, though, it can create an awkward and uncomfortable situation. For some students, it may not be a big deal. However, for other students, it puts them in a position where they have to out themselves. Either that, or lie about how they want to be referred to. How one wants to be referred to can vary and an individua...