Wholeheartedly agree. Especially when I come across things like bios or work emails where known-cis people have pronouns listed as “she/they” and “he/they”. It feels like a mockery, almost like HR’s advertizing they’re “diverse” while simultaneously ignoring every complaint of discrimination that couples across their dashboard. Pronouns are not a one-size-fits-all aesthetic to be appropriated and customized like a game avatar. They mean things, which is why people care about them in the first place.
I don’t know your specific coworkers, so this is my experience:
He/they can be a reasonable placeholder for not wanting to confuse non-queer folks with any/all which doesn’t have a great shorthand. He/they gets close enough, especially for something that I don’t have strong feelings about.
There’s also maybe an argument for putting they if you’re ok with it. I had a trans coworker who very much was not ok with people calling her they.
Wholeheartedly agree. Especially when I come across things like bios or work emails where known-cis people have pronouns listed as “she/they” and “he/they”. It feels like a mockery, almost like HR’s advertizing they’re “diverse” while simultaneously ignoring every complaint of discrimination that couples across their dashboard. Pronouns are not a one-size-fits-all aesthetic to be appropriated and customized like a game avatar. They mean things, which is why people care about them in the first place.
I don’t know your specific coworkers, so this is my experience:
He/they can be a reasonable placeholder for not wanting to confuse non-queer folks with any/all which doesn’t have a great shorthand. He/they gets close enough, especially for something that I don’t have strong feelings about.
There’s also maybe an argument for putting they if you’re ok with it. I had a trans coworker who very much was not ok with people calling her they.