What Are Pronoun Badges And Why People Wear Them?

A pronoun badge is a simple way to help avoid assumptions when addressing someone. Pronoun badges state your preferred pronouns.

The simple act of wearing a badge with your preferred pronouns on to show allyship has grown in popularity as an easy way to avoid misgendering someone. It also helps to fight discrimination, create a more inclusive workplace, educational facility, or organisation, and adhere to diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.

Understanding Pronouns

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun to avoid repetition or when the proper noun is not known. The pronouns that we use for people are they/them/theirs, she/her/hers and he/him/his. However, she/her/hers and he/him/his are gendered pronouns. This means they represent a person as female or male. Therefore, using them without being aware of a person’s gender identity or preferred pronouns can lead to assumptions based on how someone looks or presents. This, in turn, can cause upset.

What Are Pronoun Badges?

Like name tags, gender pronoun badges are badges, pins or stickers that can be worn to help people be addressed in a way that they feel comfortable with and that reflects their identity, including their gender identity.

Why Do People Wear Pronoun Badges?

Promoting Inclusivity and Respect

Wearing a pronoun badge is a way to show your support for the non-assumption of pronouns, which helps promote inclusivity and respect.

Affirming Gender Identities

For transgender, non-binary people, the normalising of wearing pronoun badges can be affirming and comforting.

Creating Safe Spaces

Normalising the wearing of pronoun badges in your organisation, educational facility, or workplace helps to make it a safe space for people regardless of their identity.

Normalising Pronoun Sharing

Introducing pronoun badges helps normalise pronoun sharing, which encourages open communication and conversation around gender diversity, which in turn leads to increased understanding.

Addressing Common Misconceptions

The most common misconception about pronoun badges is that they are only for genderqueer, trans or non-binary identifying people. The truth is that the wearing of pronoun badges by everyone regardless of their gender identity or their preferred gender pronouns helps to show that assumptions should not be made around gender pronouns.

How to Respect Pronoun Preferences

• Understand what pronouns are.
• Understand why using someone’s preferred pronouns matters.
• Avoid making assumptions about pronouns.
• When introducing yourself to anyone, include your preferred pronouns.
• Ask everyone their preferred pronouns when meeting them.
• Apologise if you make a mistake with someone’s pronouns.

Conclusion

Normalising the widespread use of pronoun badges and spoken introductions helps create more inclusive communities, organisations and workplaces. This leads to more people feeling respected and safe.

If you are in a position where you can include the wearing of pronoun badges in your company policies then consider implementing it straight away – it demonstrates a real and lasting commitment to respecting others.

You can order quality hand or laser-engraved pronoun badges from us at Furnells. 

For more information on What Are Pronoun Badges And Why People Wear Them? talk to Furnells LTD