Furthermore, and this doesn't get discussed much, it's a practical way for everyone to avoid being misgendered on the internet. Saying one's pronouns is a normalization of gender fluidity, but it's got this added benefit.
If you read through Reddit, you'll see almost everyone referring to other people in the threads as "he", with occasional "they" or context-dependent "she". As we seek the right way to co-exist on the internet across cultures and with changing norms, simple wins like this go a long way.
Passionate generalist conquering the web one project at a time. Whether authoring libraries for node, JS, PHP, or Rust, I am always on the lookout for better solutions to common problems.
Location
USA
Work
Lead Developer & Co-founder at corpscrypt, CTO at REtech
Well, there is a lot of international folk on Reddit. Most languages gender nouns. As a result and depending on the country, you can often see that come into effect on a level that is easily misinterpreted by native speakers. For example, "OP said he wants links" makes perfect sense for a German, regardless of what gender the original poster has as OP itself would carry a gender.
And on the other end of the spectrum: Being able to use a language well enables you to avoid gendered expressions all together.
However, I do get your point and I see how that would make many situations easier. But I simply have a different stance on it: It depends on where in the internet I am. Sometimes I want to have a username and share nothing - not even my gender. Anonymity is the core of the web, labels a threat to that notion.
Ben, the main reason I joined Dev.to was because it was obviously designed to be inclusive of people like myself. Just wanted to say thanks for your allyship in helping create this space.
Passionate generalist conquering the web one project at a time. Whether authoring libraries for node, JS, PHP, or Rust, I am always on the lookout for better solutions to common problems.
Location
USA
Work
Lead Developer & Co-founder at corpscrypt, CTO at REtech
Furthermore, and this doesn't get discussed much, it's a practical way for everyone to avoid being misgendered on the internet. Saying one's pronouns is a normalization of gender fluidity, but it's got this added benefit.
If you read through Reddit, you'll see almost everyone referring to other people in the threads as "he", with occasional "they" or context-dependent "she". As we seek the right way to co-exist on the internet across cultures and with changing norms, simple wins like this go a long way.
Well, there is a lot of international folk on Reddit. Most languages gender nouns. As a result and depending on the country, you can often see that come into effect on a level that is easily misinterpreted by native speakers. For example, "OP said he wants links" makes perfect sense for a German, regardless of what gender the original poster has as OP itself would carry a gender.
And on the other end of the spectrum: Being able to use a language well enables you to avoid gendered expressions all together.
However, I do get your point and I see how that would make many situations easier. But I simply have a different stance on it: It depends on where in the internet I am. Sometimes I want to have a username and share nothing - not even my gender. Anonymity is the core of the web, labels a threat to that notion.
It does make sense that it would avoid that issue but upon reading this a question popped into my head.
Why is that even an issue in the first place? Why does being misgendered on the internet matter?
Ben, the main reason I joined Dev.to was because it was obviously designed to be inclusive of people like myself. Just wanted to say thanks for your allyship in helping create this space.
In that case: would you mind giving your thoughts on this?