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In January I sent a survey out to all full and part time faculty here at WCC. Below are the results of the survey.

My big mistake: I referred several times to "pronoun preference". This was subconscious--and before I learned why it was harmful. This is my hardest habit to break. To me, it's a polite way of asking anything. But in this case, it's harmful. I appreciate those who correct me. I edited forms of "prefer" out of the survey slides here. Some respondents use these word forms, and it might because they were in the questions themselves.

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How I came to be here today presenting about pronouns in academia...My name is Carolyn Crane. My pronouns are she/her/hers.

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How I came to be here today presenting about pronouns in academia...My name is Carolyn Crane. My pronouns are she/her/hers.

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• I want to become a better ally for nonbinary and trans persons on this planet, including my friend Sam.
• I started to see my unconscious bias, and it was an ugly mirror.
• As an English teacher, I want to learn more about the history of our search for a gender neutral pronoun.
• I want to think in terms of a continuum rather than a binary--about gender and many other things as well.

I am still learning! Please be kind and patient with me if I make mistakes. I'll show a huge mistake I made when we get to my survey. I learned from it. Onward!

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Hotlines for Help
It Gets Better Project
Out-Space Student Club Out-Space Facebook Page Bailey Library
Out-Space Digital Magazine The Trevor Project
WCC Resources

Local Resources
University of Michigan Transgender Services
EMU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Resource Center
354 EMU Student Center, Ypsilanti, Michigan 48197, 734-487-4149, Email: [email protected]

UM Spectrum Center
3200 Michigan Union, 530 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, 734-763-4186, E-mail:[email protected]
Equality Michigan Lesbian Moms Network
Jim Toy Community Center
319 Braun Court, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, 734-995-9867

Corner Health Center
47 N. Huron St., Ypsilanti MI 48197, 734-484-3600

HIV/AIDS Resource Center
3075 Clark Road, Suite 203, Ypsilanti, MI 48197, (800) 578 2300, [email protected]
ACLU - LGBT Rights Best Colleges LGBTQ Student's Guide Bisexual Resource Center
\aut\ BAR
315 Braun Court, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Human Rights Campaign Coming Out Resource Guide Equality Michigan - statewide organizations GLSEN - Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network Human Rights Watch - LGBT rights PrideSource Transgender Michigan Transgender Female-to-Male Resource Guide
Out Loud Chorus
P.O. Box 7107, Ann Arbor, MI 48107, 734-265-0740, [email protected]

Gender Explorers - a support group for anyone on the transgender spectrum, allies, and/or family/significant others. Gender Explorers meets on the 2 nd and 4 th Mondays of the month, 8 pm - 10 pm, in the Spectrum Center at the University of Michigan (in the Michigan Union, 530 S. State St., Ann Arbor.

Other Resources

Guide to Bathroom Use - from the US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

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It Gets Better Project Out-Space Student Club Out-Space Facebook Page Bailey Library Out-Space Digital Magazine The Trevor Project University of Michigan Transgender Services EMU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Resource Center 354 EMU Student Center, Ypsilanti, Michigan 48197, 734-487-4149, Email: [email protected] UM Spectrum Center 3200 Michigan Union, 530 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, 734-763-4186, E-mail:[email protected] Equality Michigan Lesbian Moms Network Jim Toy Community Center 319 Braun Court, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, 734-995-9867 Corner Health Center 47 N.

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Do you use your pronouns on your email signature or Zoom name?

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Do you use your pronouns on your email signature or Zoom name?

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Most who commented wrote that they did use pronouns in Zoom, but not WCC email. None said why.

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Do you offer students opportunities to voice their pronouns?

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Do you offer students opportunities to voice their pronouns?

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• Students let me know privately their preferences. I don't like to put students on the spot in class as it might be a sensitive topic they aren't comfortable sharing with their classmates.

• I will address them however they would like to be addressed. It has been my experiences that students will email me before the semester or pull me aside in class.

• I do not announce it, but do not object if they introduce a pronoun.

• I guess I don't offer it but then again, I call students by their names and not he/she/they, so I'm not sure what asking them what they prefer accomplishes

• By demonstration of using mine.

• I discuss course material with the students.

• Never thought it about it. I address them by first formal name. Gender is irrelevant.

• If they want to but I do not make it an issue.

• I avoid using pronouns as not to offend anyone because they are too difficult to keep track of.

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Paul Tran is a queer, trans poet and a professor of English at University of Wisconsin, Madison.

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Data from Pronoun Survey.

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What do you think about this political cartoon?

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I bet, in that moment, you were being your authentic self. You felt safe and comfortable in your own skin.

Everyone deserves to be able to be their authentic selves. Everyone deserves to feel safe and comfortable in their own skin, and in a classroom.

Honoring pronouns helps nonbinary folks do just these things.

Thanks for joining me today and for sharing our journey.

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"Misgendering trans people is an act of violence." 

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"Misgendering trans people is an act of violence." 

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Laverne Cox, 2014

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Barack Obama takes on 'woke' call-out culture: 'That's not activism'

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What I was basically saying is that grammar was more important than the lives of my trans and nonbinary students. This is the ugly mirror I referred to earlier. And this is when I committed to learning, practicing, advocating--whatever it takes to protect my nonbinary students in and out of the classroom.

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Ella Flagg Young, 1912, Chicago, Illinois

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Ella Flagg Young, 1912, Chicago, Illinois

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In fact, Young was one of hundreds of educators, philosophers, and activists who attempted to create an accepted gender-neutral pronoun over a span of hundreds of years.

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• I am very comfortable using pronoun preferences, but still struggle with using they/them appropriately.
• Will not play those games.
• Comfortable but clumsy at remembering...
• I don't think that they are needed in my case.
• I personally just do not think about it.
• Not quite indifference, but I feel it has no place for individuals who won't be referring to you in the third person anyway.
• I honor students' choices but am VERY uncomfortable in being pressured to add pronouns to my profile.

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Let's take a few deep breaths. Then, I want you to think about a time you felt joy. The purest, most potent joy that comes to mind. You won't share this with us, so it can be private. You don't even need to write it down. Just make sure you can remember this moment at the end of our time together.

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What's Your Pronoun? by Dennis Baron (he/him/his)

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What's Your Pronoun? by Dennis Baron (he/him/his)

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Also from Illinois, Baron is a professor emeritus of English and Linguistics at the University of Illinois. He is a recent Guggenheim Fellow. His book offers a detailed history of society's search for a gender neutral pronoun.

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Professor Loretta Ross on Call In Culture

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Professor Loretta Ross on Call In Culture

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Professor Discusses Why She's Calling In Call Out Culture | Morning Joe | MSNBC

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The bottom line: Readers trip up or slow down when reading the singular "they" or pronouns that are at odds with stereotypes (ie. "the garbage worker lost her hat".)

Question: Is this a bad thing? Do we want students to stop and think when encountering stereotypes?

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"This Joy" by the Resistance Revival Chorus

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"This Joy" by the Resistance Revival Chorus

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"This Joy" by the Resistance Revival Chorus

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Say you engage with a colleague who is reluctant to normalize pronoun use. A common reason is that it is distracting to students. Using the Rogerian model, you could agree with them, citing the peer reviewed study by Foertsch and Gernsbacher from UMW. Once you do that, you can then have a discussion about when it's appropriate for students to be distracted. Looking at the precedents set by other social justice movements (civil rights, women's rights, gay rights, indigenous rights) and our changing language may give your colleague insight. And it started with you reaching out to agree with them on a point that mattered to them.

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This presentation was created solely for educational purposes. To the best of my knowledge, all materials are either in the public domain or used with permission. No money changed hands in the making or distributing of this presentation. If you have questions, contact me at ccrane1@wccnet.edu.

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#1 @ 2.26%: None of the above.
#2 @ 64%: It's important that students' choice of pronoun be honored in the classroom.
#3 @ 0%: Expressing pronoun preference distracts from the subject matter.
#4 @ 2.26% Expressing pronoun preference makes some students uncomfortable.
#5 @14.45%: I prefer to stick with the curriculum.
#6 @ 2.26%: Discussing pronouns could get political.
#7 @ 1412%: Other

Comments for "other":
• I think both that the student's choice of pronoun should be honored and that it could make students uncomfortable. The students who I am concerned about being uncomfortable are the ones who are sexual minorities or who may not feel safe expressing their preferences.
• Who cares what someone identifies with. It has nothing to do with the course.
• It’s a distraction.
• It is up to the student to discreetly inform the instructor if they prefer a different pronoun.
• Gender is irrelevant in my classes. All are treated equally. I address by first names only.
• I believe response in #3, #4, and #5. Stick with academia!
• (as a note, "preference" and "choice" in regard to pronouns tends to be really harmful, as it's not a preference---it's who someone is).

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You can also go to my website, www.lightcapfarm.com/blog. As of 4/14/23 it's the latest entry.

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Many think that they don't need to use their pronouns because they are obvious. We aren't necessarily using our pronouns to clarify our own identity. When we normalize pronoun presence in our classroom, we are sending a message of safety and support to nonbinary students in our classroom--whether they choose to use pronouns or not.

"I use my pronouns all the time because I want to be a walking billboard for safety for nonbinary youth." --a librarian friend of mine

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When I told my friend Sam I was struggling with the grammar aspect of pronouns and the singular they, they got a certain look on their face. At the time I didn't understand. It was a mix of grief, sadness, anger, and frustration--with a dash of fear in there too.

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Thanks to MCCSGC for producing this conferences and thanks to WCC for hosting it.

Thanks to Maryam Barrie, Ashley Eichner-Pandell and the Milan City Library, and MOASH for their insight and help.

Most of all, thanks to Sam.

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I welcome questions, comments, feedback, and further chances to collaborate.

Carolyn Crane
ccrane1@wccnet.edu
530-913-0564
www.lightcapfarm.com

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"I am trans, and I am a Marxist-Leninist as well as a grammarian, so I believe pronouns are an essential part of the English language and using someone’s pronouns is not hard and should not be up for debate. It is frankly pathetic for anyone to have an issue with the use of a part of speech."

--anonymous response to Pronoun Survey

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Accessing this Padlet after the Presentation

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Accessing this Padlet after the Presentation

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You can also find it at the top of my blog at www.lightcapfarm.com/blog