5 ms·
Diversity questions aside, some given names are ambiguous. Some names are not, but may have different (assumed) genders depending on the language. In those case
by formerly_proven 6y ago
Diversity questions aside, some given names are ambiguous. Some names are not, but may have different (assumed) genders depending on the language. In those cases it may be helpful to add a "Mrs"/"Mr" or similar, just to save people the embarrassment of addressing a woman as a man or vice versa. And isn't a "Mr"/"Mrs" a sort of pronoun spec as well? You're saying "use the usual pronouns for females/males".
- dentemple 6y agoThis. Even in the West, we have plenty of unisex names that could easily fit both men and women. E.g., "Alex", "Morgan", "Reese", "Taylor", etc. For non-Western names, not everyone would be familiar with the cultural context behind the language's naming schemes or gender context.
- jgwil2 6y agoYep, in France it is recommended that if you have a non-Western name, you put "monsieur" or "madame" in front of your name on CVs, etc. to help prevent confusion on the part of potential readers.
- etrautmann 6y agoA large question, however, is why gender is relevant on a CV...
- p2detar 6y agoThis is fine, but here's a possible potentially technical (not political) issue that I see. Looking at it from the practical point of view, I now have to address that person by their pronoun in the contents of the E-mail I write. So, what happens if there are several people included and some or many of them each have their own preferred pronoun. I have to thread very carefully in every part of my Email not to step on someone's toes. I mean I'm looking at this table [0] here and I imagine I have to make a look up table for everyone that uses a pronoun should I write stuff to several parties. Is this really practical? Are there any better solutions? 0 - https://uwm.edu/lgbtrc/support/gender-pronouns https://uwm.edu/lgbtrc/support/gender-pronouns
- pseudalopex 6y agoEveryone uses pronouns. He or she mostly. They sometimes. Anything else very rarely.
- p2detar 6y agoThat's right. I use they/them. My question remains, though. True, it might be rare now, but it doesn't necessarily going to be rare in the future.
- pseudalopex 6y agoPeople accept they because it was an English pronoun already. They'll stop using he and she before they accept custom pronouns.
- p2detar 6y agoWell, my point was not about accepting or not accepting it. I have no issue with that. My issues is that it would be hard for me personally to write an Email to several different people with different gender pronouns. I was asking if there are alternatives or maybe even similar situations in other cultures/languages that might hint to a more general solution. It seems I was not clear enough, hence the downvotes above.
- pseudalopex 6y agoThe general solution in most if not all cultures is not allowing what you're worried about. Some languages don't have pronouns. Some just have gender neutral pronouns. Some have gendered and neutral pronouns. Some cultures have 4 or 5 genders. But their systems wouldn't work in English speaking cultures where trans men and women identify as just men and women.
- gruez 6y agoFollow up question, given that women have been in the workplace for 50+ years, why wasn't it an issue back then, and only presented itself now?
- jfengel 6y agoIt was. People with ambiguous names lived with it, correcting people after the fact. So did long-haired men and short-haired women. They weren't happy about it, but didn't have a good way to fix it. Now they do. The solution was always available, of course, but there wasn't much pressure to implement it because it was merely a nuisance. It's more than a nuisance for people whose pronouns change or whose physical appearance leads people to the wrong pronouns. So they decided to implement the solution, along with people who are sympathetic to putting for the minimal effort to help them.
- pseudalopex 6y agoGender roles were stricter too. Business correspondence used honorifics more. People with "ethnic" names changed them to fit in.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- pseudo0 6y agoIf you're not sure, you can always just use the person's given name instead of a pronoun. This works 100% of the time, while pronouns in a signature block aren't very helpful if you're referring to someone who got CCed but has not replied to an email chain.
- pseudalopex 6y agoOften but not always. Given name is too informal in some situations. Completely avoiding pronouns can sound awkward too.
- pseudo0 6y agoThe OP mentioned the technology industry, which tends to be pretty informal. At least personally, the vast majority of my correspondence uses first names rather than honorifics. I agree that it can be a bit stilted, but it's better than awkwardly mixing up a person's gender.
- pseudalopex 6y agoThey said they worked in tech. They asked about industry generally.