STEP TWO (cont’d.)
It is not only the gender non-conforming, the transgender, and the neurodivergent who are harmed by “preferred pronouns” rituals.
Teens sensitive to things happening in the world around them
“Imagine [a] girl hearing that ‘cis’ people are oppressors. Does she want to stand up and say that she prefers the pronouns she/her? Isn’t that saying she prefers to be ‘cis’? In other words prefers to be an oppressor?”
“Or perhaps this girl has seen stories of the #MeToo movement, and how women are vulnerable to sexual harassment and abuse, or not taken seriously . . . or the horrors of sex trafficking . . . A girl who doesn’t want to be an oppressor or a victim is not helped by the question of preferred pronouns.”
The budding feminist
“What questions swirl in her mind when she hears the newest Supreme Court justice unable to define the word ‘woman’?” Or maybe she read why Andrea Long Chu transitioned to female — for “gossip and compliments . . . dresses . . . and breasts. Is that what one is choosing when they say they ‘prefer’ to be a girl?”
“So, where do our would-be feminist daughters turn when looking for better examples of ‘she’? To Joan of Arc? Not so fast. . . . Joan of Arc, and Queen Elizabeth I, have been posthumously transed along with other great women of history. . . . How does this impact their ‘preferred pronouns’ . . . As Victoria Smith writes, ‘It . . . suggests that to be significant is not to be female at all.’ Clearly, the concept of preferred pronouns is not helpful to girls trying to become’ women of significance’ themselves.”
Desistors and detransitioners
Perhaps those harmed the most by the pronoun obsession are desistors and detransitioners. . . . They may not know how to honestly answer the ‘preferred’ pronoun’ question. . . . Desistors and detransitioners need space and understanding; recurring pronoun circles are harmful to their process.”
To be continued
Related posts:
How Schools Can Better Support Gender Non-Conforming Kids II: Stop asking for “preferred pronouns”
