Many people are under the (false) impression that in English there are only two pronouns for referring to individuals: "he" and "she," and that you can assign pronouns to a person based on appearance, name or voice.
In fact, the choice of pronouns lies with each individual. Many people have been choosing other pronouns for a long time because they do not identify with the idea of binary genders.
Some people use "they" and "them", while others use neopronouns like xe/xem, ze/zir, ey/em, e/em, or ae/aer. Some people prefer to be addressed or mentioned without pronouns and only using their name.
You can probably imagine that not everyone finds it easy to ask other people to use the right pronouns. Especially when these pronouns require a little more explanation.
You can take the first step! Introduce yourself with your pronouns in your email signature and signal to your conversation partners that you are interested in using the correct pronouns for them.
This will make it much easier and more pleasant to communicate with you, especially for people who regularly have to explain and justify their pronouns. You show openness to diversity and normalize the use of pronouns. And you do this for everyone you communicate with.
If you need some help with your email signature:
Sign up here and we'll send you our template (in German) for a gender-inclusive email signature, including a quick guide with further tips.
Do you want to become more inclusive at work, at school, or in your personal communication? We've got just the thing for you: a template for your email signature with which you can send three positive signals at once:
Want to learn more about inclusive communication and non-binary pronouns? Sign up for one of our Lunch & Learns or contact us with your personal request.
More exciting articles:
