Why Pronouns Are Important

In the 21st century, gender identity and sex are two separate things, not to be confused with one another. In order to be more inclusive, many websites such as Instagram offer users the ability to add their pronouns to their profile.

This may not seem like a big deal to a lot of people, but it’s more important than you realize.

You don’t have to be a part of the LGBTQ community to share your pronouns, I’m not in it, but I choose to make my pronouns known because too often (for some stupid reason) I get misgendered online, especially in places where I am anonymous like Discord.

It makes me uneasy when someone addresses me as bro, dude, sir, he/him and other male pronouns to another person to clarify something that I said. I am a white cis female: I was assigned female at birth and have always considered myself female, so my pronouns are she/her.

I have made those pronouns visible on my personal and blogging Instagram account, as well as Discord servers that offer pronoun roles. There are also plenty of famous people who have shared their pronouns even if they are cis and straight like me because they feel it is important to share and I can agree with that.

It also makes me angry because the majority of the Internet assumes everyone is male or just uses masculine pronouns by default if they don’t know. It’s even more annoying when it occurs on a social media platform where my profile picture is of my face like I shouldn’t have to have a picture of myself in a bikini for you to know I am female!

Now, I’ve made my reason why pronouns are important in the Internet world, but what about those who are part of the LGBTQ community? Well, you could be trans, queer, or non-binary and people might look at you and think oh this person’s male or that person is female.

Well, the truth is you don’t know for certain. That person might look female but what if they were actually trans-male? You cannot ever assume, it’s better to ask if you are unsure. I may not be part of the community but I do respect it and support their rights. I went to college and have worked with people who are in it.

I think it’s dangerous to automatically default to using male pronouns on places like the Internet if you don’t know someone’s gender identity. It can decrease someone’s self-esteem or annoy them.

Now one might argue that my case is because I’m speaking in a male dominant community but I think we need to change that perspective. You never know, there could be say, women out there who play DOOM and want to talk on the server about their favourite weapon or demon!

Above all, making your pronouns known creates a sense of inclusivity for everyone and it is here to stay. For more information about my story in relation to this, read this article.

👽Emily