Conversation

Jesse Powell
@jespow
1/11 We are trapped by our language and limited by our point of reference. The problem with noun-oriented languages is that labels are indefinite. "You are a man." Period. Forever. A verb-oriented language might say "You are manning." Right now. Maybe not later.
Quote Tweet
Michelle Tandler
@michelletandler
·
Someone from a large FinTech company in the Bay Area told me he's been called into HR three times over the fact he hasn't added his gender pronouns to his slack profile. He was then passed over for a promotion and thinks it's related. I added my pronouns to LinkedIn.
Show this thread
Image
19
22
167
Jesse Powell
@jespow
2/ I can be a runner and I can also be not running right now. Can I be a man and not be manning right now? Well, how do you define "being a man"? It varies across time and people. Do I prove my identity by drinking beer and fixing cars or is it wearing powdered wigs & tights?
3
3
53
Jesse Powell
@jespow
3/ The hard thing about labels, be it political party, religion or gender is that when you accept a label, you allow yourself to be defined by other people. The word is fixed but the definition is fluid. What it means to be a man or woman today is not what it meant 500 years ago.
2
2
54
Jesse Powell
@jespow
4/ The other tricky thing is using one word to mean two different things. A "man" can be an adult male human being, and it can also be anyone who chooses to play the stereotypical role--to make the performance--common of an adult male human being, of some select time/society.
2
1
34
Jesse Powell
@jespow
5/ We play lots of roles. Sometimes we use costumes to inform or mislead observers. A soldier wears a uniform, a clown wears a red nose, a woman wears a dress. We assume "if he's wearing a soldier's uniform, he must be a soldier" but it's not necessarily true, nor of the woman.
2
1
35
Jesse Powell
@jespow
6/ People and norms are constantly evolving. The nouns have failed us. When someone says "I feel like a man", what is meant is that one identifies with their interpretation of somebody else's stereotypical expectations of an adult male human being. Why is the label so important?
2
3
47
Jesse Powell
@jespow
7/ I have not heard anyone in modern times say "I feel like a woman of ancient times, ready to plow the field by day and endlessly bear children by night, to be one of many, the property of a man, at risk of being stoned for speaking." Why do men only now want to play women?
3
1
55
Jesse Powell
@jespow
Replying to
@jespow
9/ People who are overly concerned with gender, political, religious, national labels seek to put you in a box. Rather than understand you as a person, they'd prefer you tell them what box you go in so they can make assumptions about what they don't know. It's lazy and insulting.
5
17
144
Jesse Powell
@jespow
10/ When I think about whether people should post their pronouns, I always think back to these psych studies where the participants are primed at the top of the test by filling out their gender or ethnicity, and then end up performing to their view of societal expectations.
6
6
94
Jesse Powell
@jespow
11/11 So, I think there's a non-0 cost of unnecessarily putting yourself in a box for somebody else's benefit. I will take my best guess and if you care that much, you can correct me. I will not ask you for your pronouns and I don't think any company should mandate pronouns. /🧵
14
13
232
ミカ 🎗 🅼🅸🅲🅰🅷 | 🖤😈🎵
@CalemJohnSmith
Replying to
@jespow
The way I see myself has nothing to do with my sex organs OR your expectations either. I identify as a woman. My identity is also intrinsic to myself. The chances are, been asked if you're a man isn't interesting, is because you identify with the body you were born into.