Hi , my name is johnny and I use he him
pronouns high and I'm cranky and I use
she her pronouns and we're here to talk
about pronouns . What is a pronoun ? A
pronoun is how we identify ourselves
apart from our name . And it's also how
people refer to us in conversations .
Using the right pronouns is a really
simple way to affirm someone's identity .
It is a signal of acceptance and
respect . If it's a signal of
acceptance and respect . How do we go
about creating a safe space for
everybody ? That's a good question . A
really good way to do that is to use
inclusive language instead of saying
something like , hey guys , you can say ,
hey everyone or hey team . Yeah . And
now that you say that another way that
we could show that we're allies and
that we accept everybody is to maybe
include our pronouns in our emails or
like we just did introduce ourselves
using our pronouns . But what would I
do if I uh mis gender someone
I think the first thing to recognize is
that it's not the end of the world ,
You correct yourself and move on or you
accept the correction and move on . The
most important thing I can tell you is
do not put the burden of making you
feel good about your mistake on the
person that you just miss gendered . Oh ,
thank you for telling me that . Yeah .
And another tip , uh for you to
remember their uh pronoun next time
it's in your mind kind of go through a
progression of three good things about
the person using the pronoun . So let's
say the person chooses to use day ,
then you will in your mind go , they
have a nice church , they have a nice
smile , they are really smart . So that
kind of sticks in your bread . That is
so helpful . Um I want to know , what
would I do if I want to know someone's
gender identity or pronounce . The most
important thing is do not pressure
anybody into giving you their pronouns .
Some people may be going through the
process of discovery and they are not
ready yet to tell you what their
pronouns are and that's okay . So I
should just lead with my pronouns and
they may follow or not . And if they
don't , then I can just continue to use
gender neutral language . Yes , exactly .
Just to share something with you that
happened uh the other day at a cookout .
I was that we were talking about
pronouns and somebody was disagreeing
with how different people see
themselves as different pronouns . And
the argument was if you look like a
female , then it's much easier because
that's what's normal . And if you make
me call you something else , then
you're infringing on my rights . And I
I was really taken aback by the comment
and I really wasn't sure how to respond .
And the only thing I could really think
quickly to say was it's not about you
at all . And it's mostly
and ultimately about respect . It is
about respect . That's an important
point to make . And I think you did the
right thing . I think it's important to
keep it short and simple . What I would
have said to help them understand
better is to talk about mispronouncing
names . For example , my name is johnny
spelled J O N Y and it's
normal for someone to pronounce my name
like Joni . But if I were to tell you
over and over again , my name is johnny
and you insist on mispronouncing my
name , I would feel disrespected by you .
Some names are very difficult to
pronounce , but do you know what is
very easy to pronounce ? She he there .
Mm hmm . Mhm . Mhm , mm hmm .
Yeah .