I just got an email with a signature that went something like this:
Dolly Parton (she/her/hers)
Professional Singer
Tel: 090-0900-8888
Email: dollyland@hotmail.com
The email was not from Dolly Parton, sadly, but you get the idea.
Now, I generally don't give any thought to how people choose to sign their emails. But...I am perplexed. Why do I need to know that she is, you know, a SHE? If I were to write her back, I probably wouldn't use any gendered pronouns. "You" works quite well when writing to someone directly. Is this person assuming that we will be talking about her amongst ourselves, hence the need to specify a singular third person pronoun? Perhaps. But I'm still befuddled as to why it would matter.
I've received a countless number of misaddressed emails over the years. My last name is deceptively hard to spell, and people always get it wrong. (My dissertation advisor, bless him, never got it right once.) I'd wager that I'm called "Julie" as often as "Julia." I had an otherwise nice exchange with someone who addressed me as "Ann" in multiple emails, which was also fine. The best one ever was a student who addressed all emails to me as, "Hey you." I thought that was objectively terrible, but I also didn't bother to correct it. I figured that kid was going to have enough problems in life and didn't need a lecture from me.
But aside from naming issues, what if someone used masculine pronouns for me? Do I feel affronted at the thought? Not really. Men are people too; as long as you don't mistake me for a squirrel, I think we'll be ok.
I guess most people are not as laid-back as me about this? The person who wrote to me would probably be very offended if I presumed she was, you know, a she, but was instead a he. Maybe she prefers to be a "they"? I could manage that, but it would make grammar difficult. Is there a thing where people prefer to be "it"? That just seems too rude; I don't think I could do that. But I guess those who defer to grammar and convention are not sufficiently woke?
Frankly, being woke all the time seems exhausting. Not caring about most things has, I think, served me very well in life. I am a very well-rested person.
Dolly Parton (she/her/hers)
Professional Singer
Tel: 090-0900-8888
Email: dollyland@hotmail.com
The email was not from Dolly Parton, sadly, but you get the idea.
Now, I generally don't give any thought to how people choose to sign their emails. But...I am perplexed. Why do I need to know that she is, you know, a SHE? If I were to write her back, I probably wouldn't use any gendered pronouns. "You" works quite well when writing to someone directly. Is this person assuming that we will be talking about her amongst ourselves, hence the need to specify a singular third person pronoun? Perhaps. But I'm still befuddled as to why it would matter.
I've received a countless number of misaddressed emails over the years. My last name is deceptively hard to spell, and people always get it wrong. (My dissertation advisor, bless him, never got it right once.) I'd wager that I'm called "Julie" as often as "Julia." I had an otherwise nice exchange with someone who addressed me as "Ann" in multiple emails, which was also fine. The best one ever was a student who addressed all emails to me as, "Hey you." I thought that was objectively terrible, but I also didn't bother to correct it. I figured that kid was going to have enough problems in life and didn't need a lecture from me.
But aside from naming issues, what if someone used masculine pronouns for me? Do I feel affronted at the thought? Not really. Men are people too; as long as you don't mistake me for a squirrel, I think we'll be ok.
I guess most people are not as laid-back as me about this? The person who wrote to me would probably be very offended if I presumed she was, you know, a she, but was instead a he. Maybe she prefers to be a "they"? I could manage that, but it would make grammar difficult. Is there a thing where people prefer to be "it"? That just seems too rude; I don't think I could do that. But I guess those who defer to grammar and convention are not sufficiently woke?
Frankly, being woke all the time seems exhausting. Not caring about most things has, I think, served me very well in life. I am a very well-rested person.
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