INTHEBLACK February 2022 - Magazine - Page 51
being linked to biological sex, and they may find it
difficult to use gender-neutral pronouns such as “they”
or “them”.
Many people are nervous about getting it wrong,
some protest that it is too difficult to change, while
still others, such as the teachers Allen attempted to
educate, question the grammatical correctness and
argue that using “they” as both singular and plural
can change the sentence’s syntax.
When Joe Ball, CEO of Switchboard Victoria,
a LGBTQIA+ mental health and family violence
support service, hears complaints about how hard it
is to remember someone’s pronouns, they point to
the ability of some people to remember every football
player in their favourite club.
“People always say it’s a lot of work keeping on
top of it, but I think the human mind has a lot of
capacity to do this. I use that example, because it is
extraordinary that people can rattle off the last few
years of footy players’ names, but they can’t learn how
to address someone the way they identify themselves.
“Nobody wants to be misidentified about who
they really are. Think about what your gender is, and
then imagine that somebody would just constantly
never get that right. I think everybody can imagine
what that feeling would be like. Well, that’s what
trans people go through every day and from multiple
people,” says Ball.
BEST PRACTICE
In workplaces across the globe, there is evidence of a
growing understanding that gender is complicated,
that pronouns are personal and that everybody has a
different relationship with them. Many workplaces are
working on policies to make everyone feel welcome
and included.
Adding pronouns to email signature blocks and
social media profiles has also been growing in
popularity, both as an effort to educate people that
not everyone identifies as male or female, as well as
showing support for colleagues in their choices.
“I think the important thing to understand is that
language evolves all the time, and we are moving
towards greater acceptance of the use of diverse
pronouns. I know for trans, non-binary and gender
fluid folks like myself, adding pronouns to an email
block shows solidarity and support, but it also might
put pressure on someone else,” says Allen.
It is important to give people a choice, and to be
aware that it is effectively asking someone to “come
out” in a similar way to expressly coming out about
their sexuality, they add.
COMPUTER SAYS “YES”
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A common answer to
queries about why the
collection of data is
limited to the binary
options of “male” or
“female”, or “Mr”, “Mrs”
and “Ms”, is that the
computer system won’t
allow it. While this might
be true if the data
collection form is a basic
one purchased “off the
shelf”, this doesn’t mean
the technology doesn’t
exist. Adding alternate
options is possible, and
is something businesses
should consider when
deciding which system
to use.
Andrew Apostola, CEO
of digital agency Portable,
which works with clients
to make transformational
change using research,
design and technology,
says it pays to do your
research and find a
solution that provides
alternatives.
“Your choice of
technology is really
important. When you are
considering the platform
to use, you need to be
clear that you want the
technology that takes into
account all sorts of
diversity,” says Apostola.
“Updating your CRM
has very little to do with
the technical
implementation and as
much to do with engaging
with the organisation and
understanding the
diversity you want to be
able to capture. It is not
hard to update the
technology.”
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