Pronouns have always been here

Pronouns are everywhere — start respecting them. Graphic by Maddie Wood. 

MADDIE WOOD | MANAGING EDITOR | mawood1@butler.edu 

Pronouns have been around for quite some time. However, it’s only been in the last few years that people have begun to acknowledge, share and respect the pronouns that someone goes by. 

There are many forms of pronouns — that’s just basic grammar — but the most mundane, everyday use is referring to someone’s gender. 

There are a variety of pronouns you can use to express your gender identity. There are actual gendered pronouns, like he and him or she and her. There are non-gendered pronouns, like they and them or ze and zir. Neoprounouns are even an option if they feel correct for someone and exist outside of the typical grammar pronouns. 

Pronouns help a person feel more comfortable in themselves and their gender expression. They’re a small but mighty way to express outwardly who you are and who you want people to see. They are also a very helpful tool for people to refer to you correctly. 

Gabby Grossmann, a junior dance arts administration major, doesn’t understand the resistance to asking for someone’s pronouns.

“It’s just like if you’re going to ask for someone’s name,” Grossmann said. “[It’s asking,] ‘How do I refer to you?’ That is not a waste of time.” 

Almost everyone has been in a situation once or twice where they weren’t sure if they were misgendering someone because they just didn’t know their gender. However, instead of doing what our grandmas do and saying “That young lady looks like a boy,” very loudly for all to hear, there is no harm in asking someone what their pronouns are. 

Ollie Sikes, a senior theater and English double major, understands the struggle of people referring to you only based on physical appearance. 

“I know for [myself] it’s actually necessary,” Sikes said. “At this point in my life, in terms of physical transition, I have not had surgery, I’m not on hormones and my hair is at a relatively long length — point being I am still very female presenting.” 

It has become second nature to many people — especially now in 2025 — to ask for or disclose their personal pronouns. People introduce themselves along with their pronouns, have them in their email signatures and sometimes even wear pronoun pins so people are automatically aware of what they go by. 

However, despite the normalization and more common use of pronouns, there seems to be a stigma around them, even as it has been more common to be public and open about what pronouns you go by. 

Dr. Teigha VanHester, an assistant professor of race, gender and sexuality studies, talked about her perspective as a professor on how people can fear the concept of pronouns and different identities. 

“Learning is easier than unlearning,” VanHester said. “People are brought up with the idea that there’s only two genders, two pronouns and two possibilities. The idea that there is now infinite access and power to create this knowledge and define it for yourself can incite fear.”

It was only in high school that I was first aware that you can use multiple gender pronouns. I always thought that you had to pick — you had to use only she or only use they. I was one of those kids who never felt like I fit in one category or the other. Rather, I was some different and mysterious “other” and I didn’t like that. I was so confused and afraid for so long that I stuck myself in that gender binary that made me feel so violently uncomfortable. 

I finally learned to come to terms with who I was, and after a long road, I am finally able to be confident in myself and my own gender identity. 

Of course, this newfound confidence and pride coincide with the recent executive order that there are only two sexes recognized in the United States. 

It’s been a known fact that the U.S. government, let alone President Trump himself, doesn’t take into account those in the LGBTQIA+ community in any capacity. However, now we have hit a point where there is active legislation working against us. We are being told that we cannot be who we are — we are having our identities taken away from us, again.  

Grossmann believes that this new policy has more potential for harm than good. 

“You’re basically telling a group of people that they don’t exist,” Grossmann said. “There is already so much damaging legislation toward the LGBTQIA+ community and this is [the] cherry on top. [The government] is saying, ‘We’re not going to push the legislation against you, we’re just not going to recognize you as people.’”

Not only is this policy an attack on gender expression and identity as a whole, but it also affects government documents like passports or driver’s licenses. Many cisgendered people or individuals who identify within the two-gender binary never really have to think twice about what they mark down as their gender on a document. 

It is easy for many to check the box that says “Male” or “Female” and move right on. However, for people who don’t fit into those boxes, it’s a bit more difficult than that. 

Since 2022 it has been an option to mark “X” on your passport as your gender identity. Now, nearly three years later, Trump has signed an executive order  to revert back to only having two genders to select from and it must “accurately reflect the holder’s sex.” 

Who you are is not a result of what is in your pants. Who you are is not a result of what the government demands. 

Hell, who you are can’t even be defined by your pronouns. 

“Pronouns don’t perfectly encapsulate one’s identity,” Sikes said. “[Someone] can look female [presenting] and still use they [and] them pronouns. You ask pet owners for [their] pet’s gender, so it’s really not that different for [people]. If you can correct yourself on a cat’s gender then you can correct yourself on a [person’s] gender.”

We are in a time where people are more comfortable with being themselves than ever — but on the opposite end, we have people just as hateful to counteract that. 

The constant need to please everyone around us extends to gender identity and expression as well. I was so scared to label myself anything other than female because I knew that there were people around me who wouldn’t be as open and respectful as I would like. 

The bottom line is that everyone has pronouns. President Trump, despite making the official policy in his new presidency that there are only two sexes, states “I don’t want pronouns,” in an interview from July 2024 — to which the interviewer responds, “So you’re fluid?”

There can be as much regulation as you please, but no matter what you cannot take away our spirit. When I’m told I can’t do something, it makes me want to do it more. 

I will continue to be myself, I will label myself as genderfluid and I will use my they and them pronouns as much as I please. 

“You can continue to attack people who have been in the margins for their entire existence,” VanHester said. “We have always survived in spite of. You can take away legislatively the right to use they [and] them pronouns, or whatever the case may be, but that doesn’t erase the person.” 

I won’t go silently. I will be fighting for myself and the people around me kicking and screaming until the very end. Nobody can tell me who I am, and nobody can tell you who you are.

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