Why Liberals Are Losing the Language War
The fight for inclusion won’t be won with words
“My name is Jacqueline,” announced the guest speaker at an online professional event I recently attended. For the sake of discretion, let’s say the topic was “virtual data aggregation,” just as we’re saying the speaker’s name is “Jacqueline.”
“My pronouns are she/her,” she continued
My eyes involuntarily rolled a little.
I’m all for stating pronouns to preempt “misgendering.” Gender is no longer a simple binary, making such faux pas increasingly common. In Jacqueline’s case, however, it felt unnecessary. Given her name, appearance, and vocal tone it seemed highly unlikely that anybody in attendance would presume Jacqueline’s pronouns to be anything other than she/her.
The slight smile that crossed her lips in unison with her pronouns, and the self-satisfied pause that followed led me to suspect that her pronoun proclamation was more about her than any bewildered hypothetical attendee puzzling over her potty-parts.
Having given her “she/her”-ness sufficient time to sink in, Jacqueline continued.
“For our differently sighted friends utilizing assistive technology today…”
