When Pattie Gonia meets Patagonia: Preferred Pronouns and Environmental Preservation
By Rebecca Nash
You’ve probably started seeing a set of pronouns at the end of your colleague’s name in their email signature, LinkedIn Profile or it might even just say “____ series,” but what does this really mean and why is it important?
What is a pronoun?
As Maria von Trapp would say, let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start! In the English language, pronouns are the part of speech used as a substitute for an antecedent noun that is clearly understood, and with which it agrees in person, number, and gender. We’re going to focus on personal (I, we, you, he, she, it, they), interrogative (who, which, what) and possessive (mine, yours, his, hers, theirs) pronouns in this post since they most closely relate to gender and identity.
Before we do that, however, we need to be on the same page about what gender is and, equally as important, what it’s not. To help out, we’d like to introduce the Genderbread Person: a neutral character in all forms which helps explain gender identity, attraction, gender expression and a person’s anatomical sex and sexual orientation (since these are all very different things!). We’re going to focus on gender identity, gender expression and anatomical sex since these three areas often get confused when imposing gender pronouns on others, and are the reason people prefer one or more pronoun(s) over the others.
The Genderbread Person:
This framework for understanding gender and identity indicates that each unique individual falls somewhere on, or moves amongst, sliding scales in the following categories: gender identity, gender expression, anatomical sex, sexual orientation, and romantic attraction. We’re covering gender identity, gender expression and anatomical sex here since these are the three main areas that correlate with pronoun usage:
The Genderbread Person
Gender identity (woman-ness, man-ness and everything in between), which is defined as a personal conception of oneself as male, female, both or neither). This is an internal understanding of a person’s identity and can only be decided by each individual person.
Gender expression / presentation (femininity, masculinity and everything in between): a person's behavior, mannerisms, interests, and appearance that are associated with gender in a particular cultural context, specifically with the categories of femininity or masculinity. These categories rely on stereotypes about gender and is what other people see. Gender expression does not denote someone’s gender identity (refer to gender identity for that).
Anatomical sex (female-ness, male-ness and everything in between): The biologic character or quality that distinguishes male and female from one another as expressed by analysis of the individual's gonadal, morphologic (internal and external), chromosomal, and hormonal characteristics. Anatomical sex does not define a person’s gender (refer to gender identity for that)
It’s important to note, too, that while gender is a spectrum, it is not necessarily between two binary points (i.e. feminine / masculine) and a person’s identity is not necessarily fixed on one part of the spectrum. Some people do not identify with any gender (agender people), and others move amongst and between genders (people who identify as genderfluid or genderqueer); their identities are equally as valid as someone who, for example, has female anatomical sex, identifies as a woman and expresses herself as feminine.
Okay, now that we have an understanding of these different categories of the human experience as it relates to gender identity, we can head back to our pronoun series. Pronouns are used for so much more than anatomical sex (most people are familiar with the “he” and “she” series pronouns as they relate to cisgendered people); here’s a look at why and how:
She series: She / her / hers
Generally speaking, she series pronouns are used for people who identify as a woman, who express themselves as feminine, or simply who feel most comfortable using the series. What is important to note is that she series pronouns are NOT used solely for people who were born with female anatomy (although they can be if that person also identifies as a woman)
He series: He / him / his
Generally speaking, he series pronouns are used for people who identify as a man, who express themselves as masculine, or simply who feel most comfortable using the series. What is important to note is that he series pronouns are NOT used solely for people who were born with male anatomy (although they can be if that person also identifies as a man)
They series: They / them / theirs
They series pronouns that people who do not identify as a woman or man (i.e. non-binary), who are transgender (someone whose gender identity does not coincide with their anatomical sex at birth), intersex (a person whose anatomical sex does not seem to fit into the typical definition of a male nor female body) or, really anybody who feels comfortable using this series. It is important to note that they series pronouns are NOT used solely for people who were born with both male and female anatomy (although they can be if that person also identifies with a gender that uses the series)
Other Combinations
The incredible thing about people is that they are multifaceted, and pronoun use is no different. As mentioned earlier, someone might not fall on either scale, or present as different genders at different points in their lives, or might be a bit more feminine some days but feels more comfortable somewhere in the middle (again, these are just a few examples out of many that would use a combination of pronouns).
A few examples (out of dozens) include:
Alex went to the living room and picked up a book that belongs to Alex. The book belongs to Alex.
They / her / hers: They went to the living room and picked up her book. The book is hers.
He / their / theirs: He went to the living room and picked up their book. The book is theirs.
He / her / hers: He went to the living room and picked up her book. The book is hers.
They / her / theirs: They went to the living room and picked up her book. The book is theirs.
Gender and gender roles, as we know them, are social constructs that influence, in countless ways, how people move in the world and how they express themselves. Using a person’s preferred pronouns validates a person’s very existence, offering a space to feel like they belong and even reduces suicide risk and depression in teens. It is a simple change that increases effective communication, builds trust, and validates the human experience in all forms. It allows for safer work and personal environments and builds an inclusive society for all.
The LGBTQIA+ Community and the Environment
Pattie Gonia
Out for Sustainability is the hub of numerous events and organizations that fall at the intersection of the queer community and protecting the planet. Its mission is to mobilize the LGBTQ community for environmental and social action, in pursuit of a fabulous planet. The Fab Planet Summit, Out for Sustainability’s annual environmental summit, advocates for more sustainable practices, particularly when it comes to Pride parades that happen throughout the country. OUT4S is the leading (and only) LGBTQIA+ nonprofit dedicated to our social and physical environment, making a difference by its very existence to bridge queer identity and sustainability values. Finally, there are a number of notable members of the LGBTQIA+ community who are making strides in the field of sustainability; we’ve highlighted a few below:
Pattie Gonia is a drag queen and environmental advocate extraordinaire who is often photographed sporting heels on mountaintops (YES QUEEN!)
Lindi Von Mutius is a litigator, conservation ecologist, and environmental justice advocate who formerly worked as the Director of Program Management at the Environmental Defense Fund and is now the Chief of Staff for the Sierra Club
Jon Stryker serves as a founding board member for the 90,000-acre Ol Pejeta Wildlife Conservancy and is a co-founder of Save the Chimps and is the founder and president of the Arcus Foundation, a private philanthropic organization that primarily supports the advancement of LGBTQ rights and great ape conservation efforts
Additional Resources:
Healthline has a great list of 64 terms that describe gender identity and expression
Genderbread person:
https://www.genderbread.org
References:
GLAAD:
Notable Environmentalists:
https://sycamorelandtrust.org/2019/06/lgbtq-environmentalists/
Rebecca Nash (she series) is a rising second year Master of International Business candidate at the Fletcher School specializing in Business for Social Impact and Gender & Intersectional Analysis. She is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer and co-leads Pride at Fletcher as well as Ambassachords, Fletcher’s a cappella group.
This blog post is the first post in CIERP and Climate Policy Lab’s Pride Month Blog Series.