The Student Officers at Teesside University Students' Union (TUSU) are proud to now adopt pronouns in their e-mail signatures and on their business cards. We wanted to briefly explain below what pronouns are and why they made this decision.
What are Pronouns?
A pronoun (I, me, he, she, herself, you, it, that, they, each, few, many, who, whoever, whose, someone, everybody, etc.) is a word that takes the place of a noun. e.g. In the sentence, Joe saw Jill, and he waved at her, the pronouns he and her take the place of Joe and Jill, respectively. When an individual uses pronouns in their communication it is usually to establish how they wish to be referred to by others and when they adopt the pronouns "they/ them" it is because they do not wish to be gender-specific and do not want others to assume their gender. You use these pronouns in the same way as you would use common gendered pronouns. For example, instead of saying ‘Charlotte is very tired. She is going to bed’, you would say ‘Charlotte is very tired. They are going to bed’.
Why do the TUSU Student Officers use Pronouns on their e-mail signatures and business cards?
Teesside University Students' Union (TUSU) continues to strive to be an ever more modern and inclusive organisation with which all students can feel comfortable getting involved. We understand the ever-growing importance of the use of pronouns to many individuals who want to be clear on how they prefer to be identified by others in direct conversation or online engagement. The use of Pronouns by the Student Officers is a show of support for anyone who has felt uncomfortable, isolated or upset by people unwittingly or deliberately using the wrong pronouns to describe them. We recognise there are many different views on the use of pronouns and we have not made it mandatory for our staff or volunteers but we would urge everyone, even if they choose not to use pronouns, to be respectful when others clearly identify how they wish to be referred to and ensure you always use the pronoun they have said they prefer.
How can I find out more about Pronouns?
