(See what we did there? With the pronoun thing... OK... We'll shut up now...)
A fun, lighthearted, rules light game that celebrates and explores ungendered pronouns.
Why not play it on International Trans Day of Visibility (March 31st)?
The Rules
Participants should try their best not to use the gendered pronouns he/she, him/her or his/hers for the day… That’s it… Try out They/them for everyone for the day…
Use people’s names in place of a pronoun… There’s loads of ways of not assuming somebody’s gender… Have a go at using them for a day!
Frequently Asked Questions
Because where would we be without a good FAQ, Eh?
Why? – Gendered pronouns assume somebody’s gender, sometimes wrongly. Not everyone identifies with the gender that you or others assume they are and may
find you calling them he/she jarring, even if they don’t feel comfortable telling you. By spending the day not using gendered pronouns,
somebody out there might have a more comfortable day (even if you aren’t aware of it!) and you get to practice doing something different for the day…
The important thing is that it doesn’t do anybody any harm!
What if I get it wrong? – It doesn’t matter… Notice… Swear under your breath if you want… And try again next time…
You could put 20p in a ‘gender jar’ and donate it to an LGBTQI+ charity if you wanted… But that’s by no means mandatory…
What if somebody tells me they prefer he/she/xe/something else? – Great, somebody just told you their pronoun preference!
Thank them and spend the rest of the day using that one for them – This isn’t about being a dick and forcing another set of pronouns on somebody!
What if I have some really important piece of official paperwork that requires gendered pronouns? Or I'm in court? - If you're in court, then you probably
have bigger things to worry about than a silly pronoun game... But again, don't worry if for some reason you need to use a gendered personal pronoun - this is a game! if
you need to use it, use it, but try to take note of the context and realise that you've just gained an insight into what it's like for trans identifying people every day, who
are often forced to describe their gender in ways they don't like.
What if I feel weird using they/them/theirs or other ungendered pronouns for people who's gender I think I know? - You probably will to start with.
But that's fine and once you get used to it it will probably start to seem natural. You might even be surprised how often you use they/them/theirs to describe situations
where you don't know a person's gender already! For example "If anyone calls, tell them they can call me back later." comes naturally to most people because
we don't know the gender of anyone who may call. It's not hard once we get used to it! Give it a go!
This sounds like a bunch of woke snowflake liberal nonsense - Not technically a question, but you did manage to avoid using any gendered pronouns
so well done you! keep at it!
This is all going to end with everybody identifying as helicopters/tanks/dogs - It almost certainly isn't...
This is a logical fallacy called "The Slippery Slope Fallacy"
And even if people did, helicopters/tanks/dogs are all brilliant and we'd totally encourage anyone who wanted to be a Boeing AH-64
Apache helicopter to identify that way if it makes you happy! Can we suggest the pronouns "Thwoppa thwoppa thwoppa"
and "Peew peew peew" as appropriate?