Today, October 17, 2018 we are presented with an opportunity to support another marginalized community through an amazing awareness day crowned International Pronouns Day. I am happy to announce that Manifesting M.E. Wellness is among many other organizations to endorse the day.
What is International Pronouns Day?
As mentioned on the official website for International Pronouns Day: “International Pronouns Day seeks to make asking, sharing, and respecting personal pronouns commonplace”
Why is it important?
International Pronouns Day official website states: “Referring to people by the pronouns they determine for themselves is basic to human dignity. Being referred to by the wrong pronouns particularly affects transgender and gender nonconforming people. Together, we can transform society to celebrate people’s multiple, intersecting identities.”
Where can I learn more information?
Please visit International Pronouns Day Website and Resources page for more information on the awareness day.
You may also find it helpful to visit My Pronouns Website to learn more about pronouns, how to utilize them, respectful ways of asking about the pronouns of others and what to do when you’ve made a mistake.
My Takeaways
Being completely transparent, I have been aware that everyone does not use ‘he’ or ‘she’ pronouns for quite some time however I have not always been sensitive to this in both my professional and personal lives. In recent years I have tried to make a point of using ‘they’ when I’m not sure but more often than not I try to simply refer to people by their preferred name to avoid any confusion. I have always felt that was better than directly asking someone for their preferred pronouns. In general, when it comes to asking people to reveal personal information about themselves I tend to err on the side of caution.
Taking part in Pronouns Day has opened my mind to the following techniques:
- Reveal my own pronouns when I introduce myself to create a safe space for others to reveal theirs if they feel called to do so
- Include my pronouns in my social media profiles and email signatures to normalize the act of revealing pronouns
I plan to incorporate each of these techniques going forward and hope that you will join me in doing so.
One of the goals I have for my organization Manifesting M.E. Wellness is to create a safe space for marginalized communities and I take pride in finding and learning new ways to do just that. I am thankful to take part in such an important history making day and hope it will be the first of many more to come.
Keep Manifesting,
(She/Her/Hers)
