Pronouns
Pronouns are the words that we use to refer to a person in place of their name. Pronouns are helpful linguistic tools, but they also are meaningful tools to communicate identities and experiences.
Examples of usage:
- He/him: Sklyer went to the Norris Center to eat dinner, but he forgot his WildCard.
- Xe/xem: Maria left xyr backpack and xe has an important paper in there, can you go grab it for xem?
- They/them: Sam has a midterm next week, but they haven’t begun to baby直播app yet – they’re so busy with other work!
- She/hers: Erica is a dynamic speaker! Her presentation to our group left everyone feeling inspired. She really did well!
- None: Mateo is hosting office hours tomorrow afternoon, be sure to stop by as Mateo can help with the challenging concepts from last week’s lecture!
There is no exhaustive list of pronouns, but most of us are likely already familiar with a few commonly used ones. Many people use one or a combination of the following pronouns: he, she, they, xe, ze, and more. Some people do not use any pronouns and are called by their names. Everyone has a way to be referred to – learning someone’s pronouns is essential to communicating respectfully with one another.
Pronouns are especially relevant to transgender and non-binary students, staff, and faculty, who may experience misgendering, that is, the intentional or unintentional incorrect use of pronouns to refer to them – often in their daily lives.
In order to create a campus environment where all community members can thrive, including LGBTQIA community members, we must be intentional and proactive about our pronoun usage.