I See You: Why I’m Using My Preferred Pronouns in My Email Signature

By Nancy Lundebjerg posted 03-31-2021 02:11 PM

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Recently, as a part of my own personal journey to becoming a better ally, I’ve added my preferred pronouns to my email signature and my social media profiles. On International Transgender Day of Visibility, I thought it would be good to highlight why I think it is important for all of us to take this small step that says, “We see you.”

I grew up in an era when diagramming sentences was “a thing,” and pronouns were simply words that we used to refer to a person in place of their name. As we have been implementing the body of work that Annie Medina-Walpole (our AGS President) and I laid out in our recent Journal of American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) article, I’ve had conversations about how pronouns communicate who we are and how we would like to be seen by others. I’ve recognized that everyone has a way they would like to be referred to in various settings, based on how they identify. The range of pronouns available today—he/his and she/her to they/theirs, xe/xem, and more—reflects the diversity of who we are and not the binary framework of those sentences I used to spend hours diagramming.

One way that we all can respect gender diversity is to make declaring our own pronouns the new norm. Adding she/her/hers to my email signature and social media profiles has been a simple way for me to be a cisgender ally to transgender and non-binary people. Adding my pronouns has also reminded me that I need to check my own assumptions about which pronoun to use based on a person’s appearance, name, or voice. Those assumptions rest upon cultural stereotypes that we need to erase if we are to create a society that is free of discrimination.

I am hoping that AGS members will consider joining me by adding your pronouns to your email signatures, social media, and other profiles. (Here are some handy instructions on how to change your MyAGSOnline discussion signature.) The more of us who take this simple step, the more we raise awareness about the diversity of gender identity, and the less risky and difficult it is for transgender and non-binary people to identify themselves, too.

Making changes to signatures and profiles is one step we can take on our path toward a future where every person feels respected, empowered, and always free to be their authentic selves. To learn more about how you can make our and your community more welcoming to people of all genders, I recommend taking a look at this new resource from Mathematica, a “Transgender Inclusive Communication” guide. I’ll be right there alongside you, taking one step at a time in my own journey to becoming a better ally.

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