The Q Center
Pronouns Matter Day
As a society, we find ourselves in a particular cultural moment as it relates to gender. Traditional notions of gender are shifting and it is more common today to find individuals who are willing to openly identify their gender outside of a male/female binary. In 2014, Fusion’s Massive Millennial Poll reported 50 percent of respondents believed gender exists on a spectrum. Just this November, California became the first state to offer a third option, “non-binary,” to appear on birth certificates, and joined Oregon and Washington, D.C. in allowing for a third gender option on state issued IDs.
Many say the millennial generation is pushing the boundaries of gender. This is true to the extent that the gender-expansive individuals of this generation, rather than hiding, are insisting on living authentic lives. But society was not designed with gender-expansive people in mind, so we find ourselves with two options. We can be dumbfounded or we can accept the responsibility to grow and change because everyone deserves to live authentically. In an educational institution where diversity of all kinds is understood as a driver of excellence, the choice is clear. So, on Nov. 15, 2017, the Q Center hosted Pronouns Matter Day as part of a larger #PronounsMatter campaign.
We chose to address personal pronouns because the proper use of pronouns to address someone is one of the most important ways we convey respect in our culture. Using the wrong pronoun can feel very disrespectful. But addressing someone who identifies as non-binary is so new for most of us we often get it wrong. The #PronounsMatter poster highlights the use of they/them as well as other gender-neutral pronouns like zie/zir, while Pronouns Matter Day focused on how to ask for, share and use non-gendered pronouns. For some who participated, it was the first time they had ever thought about personal pronouns. Like fish who never notice the water, personal pronouns are such an ingrained part of speech that we don’t notice them until we meet someone who challenges our understanding.
Pronouns Matter Day was a huge success. More than 35 campus departments participated. We also tabled across campus. We gave out almost 200 posters, 600 hand cards and over 700 buttons! The buttons encouraged people to share their pronouns, and hand cards helped people practice using pronouns. For example: “Did you see Xander yesterday? They were so excited they passed their final.” For many, the biggest challenge was getting past ingrained grammar rules. For some it helped to know that the American Dialect Society voted the “singular they” as Word of the Year in 2015; incidentally, the same year that the Washington Post added it to their style guide!
The #PronounsMatter campaign will continue into the spring semester with additional activities and resources. You can follow the campaign on the Q Center Tumblr page at qcenterbing.tumblr.com/tagged/pronounsmatter.