Respect people's pronouns, it is for the better
Hello Everyone,
It feels as though I can’t go on any form of Social Media without seeing political post; but these political post are completely polar opposite of each other and they can’t seem to find common ground. This upsets me and I felt it was necessary to be able to share my feelings and thoughts on this.
I am from North Carolina, and a big News Station on the internet and through cable T.V. is WRAL. I follow WRAL on Facebook because they sometimes share articles that I do not know about until I see it on Facebook. But, I didn’t realize that by following their Facebook page, that I would inadvertently be sucked into the political arguments that occur on a daily basis. Maybe I should have seen it coming. Maybe I should sleep with one eye open at night.
The amount of negativity forced into the comment sections is absolutely incredible. People are not afraid to speak their opinions and they seem to not care if those opinions are offensive to anyone. Specifically today, I saw an article titled: “'It is very uncomfortable': Transgender woman wants out of Harnett male prison” (Lamb, Flowers, Matthews). Judging by the title, I could guess that there would be debates and I figured that many people would be in support of this article.
The basics of the article tell the story of Kanautica Zayre-Brown. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison for insurance fraud and other crimes. But, she is a transgender inmate. She transitioned from male to female and has had many surgeries to work towards her goals of transitioning to the identity she feels as though she belongs to. In 2017, after her surgeries, she was sent to prison for 10 years in a male correctional institution in Harnett County. They did this because of her original birth certificate defining her as a male. She doesn’t like being at the facility due to her fears of assault and feeling generally uncomfortable. If she is unable to moved out of the facility, she declares that she will file a lawsuit against the state.
My reactions to this article were, “wow I’m so sad that they put her into a male corrections institution when she is a female”. I don’t think this comes from any political agenda, but I think this comes from wanting people to feel like their rights are being upheld and that their identities aren’t be oppressed by the system.
I will add this to this post though, I am fairly liberal. I identify as a Democratic liberal due to my want for everyone to have their rights upheld. I think it’s important for people to feel accepted within a society that is continuously trying to oppress individuals.
I am going to provide the comments that I have screenshot. These comments are very depressing and some of the comments may be triggering to some individuals. But I feel as though the comments are important to look into. I have blurred out the names due to confidentiality.
What am I upset by? Almost all of it. From people not using her correct pronouns to people calling Zayre-Brown a “freak” to people doubting her to individuals not engaging in constructive conversations. All of this makes me feel as though we have a long way to go. But mostly, I find their use of not applying the correct pronouns to Zayre-Brown to be not respectful.
For the individuals that do not identify her with “she, her, hers” pronouns, you are not only disrespecting her, but you are disrespecting any individual. Pronouns are not uniformly connected to individuals that are not cis-gendered. They are connected to everyone because we are not all transgender but we are not all completely cis-gendered. You are forgetting every non-binary individual or any individual that is comfortable being a cis-male who is more feminine. I can not tell you how many times I have been called a female due to the fact that I am a gay male. If you would like to read more on other people’s experiences around that, you should read an essay called “Sissy Redneck” (here is a lecture similar to the book written by the Author, Jay Poole). Pronouns are not only applicable to trans-gendered individuals. We all use pronouns on a daily basis and it’s out duty to respect those who have changed their pronouns and those who continue to transform within their identities.
I identify as “he, him, his”. But that doesn’t mean that I am not comfortable with other pronouns. I am comfortable with other pronouns because I realize that those pronouns are not applied to the sex I was born, but the social construct of gender. Gender is a social construct based around categorizing people. Gender is based on your own identity and sex is the biological factors.
But why can’t we see transgender individuals as individuals that are a part of our society? Why can’t we respect their wishes? Why do we have to have these biases? It’s all about our own biases. If you are willing to learn and accept others. Without being able to accept others, can we truly show empathy. Everyone comes from a different background and the world is a lot bigger than your backyard, Raleigh, North Carolina, the United States of America, and North America. There are millions and billions of people in this world with different experiences. If we aren’t willing to understand their perspectives, are we willing to be a society? I think not.
I want to know your thoughts? Did I take things too far? Do you agree or disagree?
XoXo,
-Sterling T. Grisom