For several years now, we’ve been hearing a lot of talk about the “importance” of pronouns and how it is incumbent upon the masses to affirm the gender identity of those who believe themselves to be the opposite sex of what they actually are. According to the cult, failing to use a transgender person’s “preferred pronouns” isn’t merely disrespectful but an act of violence because of the emotional harm it causes.
If you’re reading this, most likely, you acknowledge the absurdity of this, but I’m here to warn you, things are going to get worse. While we may point out that the transgender cult thinks that not only is gender fluid, but a spectrum, which means that preferred pronouns could be anything. While we’ve all long used he/him for men, she/her for women, and they/them for a group, transgender-identifying people can not only be any blend of those three but of other entirely made-up pronouns like xi/xir or countless variants. Heck, even emojis are being used as pronouns.
Given the infinite possibilities of “preferred pronouns” and the apparent violence that misgendering someone is, the University of Colorado is recommending that everyone assumes that new acquaintances are transgender until they are informed otherwise.
This is not a joke. You are not reading the Babylon Bee. The University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Inclusion and Social Change (ugh, I have a headache already) has a handy guide explaining the “importance of pronouns” that might just diminish all hope you have for humanity.
“It is never safe to assume someone’s gender and living a life where people will naturally assume the correct pronouns for you is a privilege that not everyone experiences,” the guide ominously informs us. “choosing to ignore or disrespect someone’s pronouns is not only an act of oppression but can also be considered an act of violence.”
Oppression? Violence? Do you think these words are coincidental? Of course not. We’re witnessing the precursor to the criminalization of misgendering people in the United States, and it’s no mistake that such guidelines are coming out of universities first.
So how are we supposed to function as a society if the mere use of pronouns is so problematic? According to this guide, “Usually it’s safe to use they/them/theirs unless that person tells you otherwise.”
Yeah, no thanks. I can tell the difference between men and women, and I can tell when a man is pretending to be woman or vice versa. I couldn’t care less about preferred pronouns. But at the University of Colorado, not only are you suggested not to assume one’s gender identity and pronouns, but you should also always introduce yourself to new people with your pronouns:
Try to introduce yourself with your own pronouns so that everyone you meet knows that you’re a safe space and that you won’t assume a person’s pronouns. It also prompts them to provide pronouns without it being awkward. (Ex. “Hello, my name is Alex and I use they/them/theirs pronouns.”)
You can ask that person, as long as you do so politely (i.e. “Hey, what are your pronouns?”), but it is generally preferred that gender non-conforming people come out with their own pronouns on their own terms. Knowing a person’s pronouns is not the most important thing in the world but respecting a person is, so try not to demand something of someone when they’re not comfortable giving it.
The guide even acknowledges that there are too many pronoun possibilities for them to even name. If they don’t have the ability to even name them all, how are individuals supposed to memorize them all and to whom each applies? It’s impossible. But, to them, misgendering is violence, and while there’s no indication of this in the guidelines, it seems inevitable that disciplinary action awaits those who won’t use frog/frogs pronouns for the narcissistic art student they met at a party last weekend.
And worse yet, the masses are being asked to cater to a tiny fraction of the population. A Gallup poll from last year found that the percentage of Americans identifying as LGBT is 7.1%, with 10% of those LGBTQ-identifying Americans claiming to be transgender, which means that 0.71% of the population identifies as transgender, but the 99.29% of the rest of the population must assume that 100% of those they encounter identify as transgender.
Sorry, but this is not going to happen.
