Beyond Pronouns 101

Abstract

Abstract On college campuses working toward trans inclusion, instructors are often encouraged to ask students to share their pronouns on the first day of class. However, critics of this practice have suggested that it pressures students to out themselves or lay claim on an identity they may still be questioning. This chapter discusses the results of a survey of transgender students at a public California university, most of whom reported appreciating the opportunity to share their pronouns in class. However, the comments of students with more negative or ambivalent feelings about this norm allow the possibility of identifying contextual factors that make instructors more or less effective in creating a space in which trans students felt safe sharing their pronouns. Rather than promoting one-size-fits-all approaches to trans inclusion, the authors offer recommendations for more context-sensitive, flexible, and multimodal approaches to pronouns in the classroom that center and normalize trans students’ pronouns.