[tor-project] Proposal for the people page: Pronouns

[Taylor Yu]

On 05/18/2018 03:39 PM, Griffin wrote:

> I find these without context to be very clunky. A brief bio of
> "Griffin does xyz and in his spare time plays jazz keytar" flows much
> better and better represents the richness of one's life. I'm slightly
> biased on this issue as I'm very visibly trans. While people will
> naturally make assumptions about my gender/sex (no big deal), some
> focus on that particular piece of my life instead of what I'm
> actually doing.
Thank you for sharing your perspective. I'm glad it's no big deal for
you when people make assumptions about your gender. I also appreciate
you not wanting people to focus on that aspect of your life.

Are you saying we should refrain altogether from optionally displaying
pronouns on the people page in a standardized way? Or are you expressing
your desire to opt out of displaying your pronouns like that? Or
something else?

I guess I have a different bias. I would find it helpful if we gave
people the option to display their pronouns in a standardized way.
People are unlikely to guess my correct pronouns, unless they're in the
habit of using they/them pronouns by default. Until recently, it was
more likely than not for someone to guess my gender or pronouns in a
direction that would hurt me.

I've found that people who have already made assumptions about someone's
gender are likely to disregard that person's pronouns if those pronouns
are used only in running text, as opposed to being displayed in some
more explicit way. I personally feel more comfortable announcing my
pronouns if other people also announce theirs (which they are free to do
or not as they feel comfortable).

Best regards,
-Taylor
pronouns: they/them