International Pronouns Day Explained

International Pronouns Day Explained

Happy International Pronouns Day! This day was established in 2018 and occurs every third Wednesday in October, spearheaded by Pronouns.Org. As the grassroots organization states, being called by the pronouns you determine for yourself is basic to human dignity. Improper use of identifiers is most prevalent in the trans and gender-nonconforming communities. As society as a whole is still coming to terms in using proper pronouns, or even assuming identifiers, the queer community is still learning as well.

 

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Some people subscribe to the pronouns he/him, she/her, they/them, or any combination of those. There are also what are called neo-pronouns like ze/zim/zer or ey/em. Neopronouns are perferred by some non-binary folks who feel more comfortable with non-gender specific ones. Neopronouns are not new, the first recorded use was in 1789 when William H. Marshall recorded the use of "ou" as a pronoun. In a 2020 survey conducted by The Trevor Project, they reported that 4% of LGBT youth used neopronouns. As far as they/them pronouns in the singular sense, Emily Dickinson and Shakespeare used them such in their works.

The Trevor Project recently released an “Understanding Gender Identities and Pronouns” guide. The guide states that misusing someone's pronouns can affect their mental health, as it is a statement of respecting someone's identity. When you introduce yourself, you should tell other people how you identify and inquire as to how others identify. Mistakes happen, and we just need to address and apologize if we use someone's wrong pronouns.

 

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The way that the world is looking at gender, sexuality, and personal identity is changing. We are seeing the norms of masculine and feminine being questioned. The younger generation seems not as bogged down by the cultural norms that have been engrained in previous generations. Our youth are constantly defining new ways to identify ourselves and are open to using an expanded group of identifiers. The queer community is also learning. We have to think twice before snapping our fingers and exclaiming, "Oh, gurllll!" or "Hey, sis!" This movement is a constant evolution and we just have to be ready to be open to being educated and respecting our community members in how they want to be identified. We know what a hot topic gender identity has been this election.

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