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Ask HN: Does your employer want you to state pronouns in email signature?

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Re: Ask HN: Does your employer want you to state pronouns in email signature?

#61

Post by ceejayoz »

seneca wrote: post #53
ceejayoz wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Tech isn't political" is itself a political stance. (And a hard to support one, IMO.)

> "Tech isn't political" is itself a political stance. (And a hard to support one, IMO.) Funny how the only people who say this are the people who want to drag politics into everything. Tech is no more inherently political than, say, electrical engineering. That is to say, not at all without tortured logic that could be applied to almost anything.

You don't think the Free Software / Open Source movement many of us owe our careers to was a political one?

Re: Ask HN: Does your employer want you to state pronouns in email signature?

#62

Post by eplanit »

Companies are tripping over each other to satisfy the woke mob, and it's ridiculous. This is part of that, and my advice is to not participate -- don't give air to unwanted things, and don't legitimize them.

Or, if anyone has a sense of humor (very hard to find amongst the woke) encourage a large number of people to choose whimsical pronouns -- makes the silliness of it apparent.

Re: Ask HN: Does your employer want you to state pronouns in email signature?

#63

Post by __alexs »

We barely use email here so no one thinks about signatures but many people have their pronouns in their Slack profiles.

Seems pretty helpful to me. We're a very multicultural work place so working out preferred pronouns just from peoples names can be tricky.

Re: Ask HN: Does your employer want you to state pronouns in email signature?

#64

Post by hasmolo »

pX3q54Q55945w7E wrote: post #39

I work at a very left-leaning SV unicorn. Most people don’t advertise their pronouns, but quite a few do. I’m mildly peeved by this. To me the practice feels like taking off one’s lower body half garment to expose the genitalia. “See? This is my gender.” What difference does this make in a professional context? Our culture has put so much emphasis on treating all genders (or no gender) exactly the same: that was the…

gender and sex are not correlated. one is a preference and the other a biological status. gender indicates to people where you view your place in the social structure, sex describes your physical or hormonal status

(not one to one correlation, good points)

Re: Ask HN: Does your employer want you to state pronouns in email signature?

#65

Post by DanBC »

icy wrote: post #56
proactivesvcs wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a number of acquaintances on social media who advertise their pronouns. They write, post visual art, engage in a wide range of discussions and sometimes involve themselves in gender or identity issues, but I haven't noticed a proclivity towards irrelevant politics. I wonder if the phenomenon you're seeing is one more prominent on Twitter?

This is a phenomenon exclusively on Twitter (and off late, the fediverse). I don't think I've seen it anywhere else.

Some NHS organisations have started using them. https://twitter.com/EddyLaurie1/status/1240346693931057153?s...

It's important for healthcare safety that people feels safe to discuss their gender and pronoun badges are a small sign that the wearer is a safe person to speak to.

Re: Ask HN: Does your employer want you to state pronouns in email signature?

#66

Post by IMTDb »

I am like your colleagues.

As humans we have been hardwired to recognize biological males from biological females for million of years. So when I speak to someone wether in person or online, I will use the pronouns associated with their biological gender, or masculine if I really don't know. That is the way I have always done so that I can focus as much as possible on what I have to say rather than how I say it. Content > From.

I really do not care about the sexual orientation, food preference or political opinion of the people I interact with in a professional environment, and I don't expect people to really care about mine.

Re: Ask HN: Does your employer want you to state pronouns in email signature?

#67

Post by draugadrotten »

_dark_matter_ wrote: post #51
pX3q54Q55945w7E wrote: post #39

I work at a very left-leaning SV unicorn. Most people don’t advertise their pronouns, but quite a few do. I’m mildly peeved by this. To me the practice feels like taking off one’s lower body half garment to expose the genitalia. “See? This is my gender.” What difference does this make in a professional context? Our culture has put so much emphasis on treating all genders (or no gender) exactly the same: that was the…

I don't understand this point if view. I see it like stating your name - it lets people know what to call you. It doesn't have any relationship to what your genitalia are.

In addition to stating the name as the identity, it would be best to state gender, pronoun, and why not also race and religion? They are all part of identity.

Better not. The professional signature is not mean to show your private identity. It is supposed to identify your professional identity, which should not include race or gender. Your private e-mail signature can include unicorns, your work signature should be kept professional and that means excluding private data.

In some job functions, you do not even state the name - you are simply a representative of the company. First line support is often like that. The "Jane" you think you meet in a support chat may be Asmee or Ananya in real life.

Re: Ask HN: Does your employer want you to state pronouns in email signature?

#68

Post by ceejayoz »

pX3q54Q55945w7E wrote: post #39

I work at a very left-leaning SV unicorn. Most people don’t advertise their pronouns, but quite a few do. I’m mildly peeved by this. To me the practice feels like taking off one’s lower body half garment to expose the genitalia. “See? This is my gender.” What difference does this make in a professional context? Our culture has put so much emphasis on treating all genders (or no gender) exactly the same: that was the…

> To me the practice feels like taking off one’s lower body half garment to expose the genitalia.

Do you feel the same way about Mr/Mrs titles?

Re: Ask HN: Does your employer want you to state pronouns in email signature?

#69

Post by strmpnk »

futureshock wrote: post #18

I am LGBT and not in favor of it being pressured or de-facto compulsory. I would hope it was popular enough that people understood what it meant so that trans people can have more acceptance and understanding. I don't have it in my email signature, but if my company released a policy saying it was acceptable, I might add it. I would probably not add it without management permission since it is their choice how they w…

I’m trans and agree with this, though I offer another reason to avoid making it compulsory.

Before I came out I felt very awkward with regards to my own pronoun display. I wasn’t ready on one hand and on the other I felt terrible seeing other pronouns even if it was attached to my deadname only.

I’d encourage people to do it if they’re comfortable with it on a personal level as it can be a very personal thing. I also want to thank all of those who do add it. It’s a big deal for many of us and can make a real difference in exchange for very little effort.

Re: Ask HN: Does your employer want you to state pronouns in email signature?

#70

Post by kevbin »

pX3q54Q55945w7E wrote: post #39

I work at a very left-leaning SV unicorn. Most people don’t advertise their pronouns, but quite a few do. I’m mildly peeved by this. To me the practice feels like taking off one’s lower body half garment to expose the genitalia. “See? This is my gender.” What difference does this make in a professional context? Our culture has put so much emphasis on treating all genders (or no gender) exactly the same: that was the…

Asked for “my pronouns”, I give two offensive words. This is generally enough to short-circuit this stupidity.
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