#pronounawareness

[gentlytakemyhand-blog]

they/them is a lot better than the feeling of assumption. it's kind of like the way-station for pronouns.🤣 you can have a convo with the individual themselves about their pronouns, but until then, neutral is nice.🤠

😱🤯 im just gonna. go a smidge ranty. it's my style (tho, this is my 1st time doin sj work but ynot😅), but up🔝 is my answer.😊 otherwise, enjoy! 🤯😱

in our cis-based society, pronouns can define how a person is treated by others. its especially true if you don't fit a cookie cutter mold and get cut... but that's not to say that one pronoun is better than another, just as i don't say that red is brighter than blue. we all must remember that everything is perceptual. to each their own. in our cis-based society, there are 2 molds for gender that are considered "normal": red and blue.

with red and blue as the pinnacle of our glorious myriad of gender colors, we can now choose red or blue for: birthdays, clothing, pronouns, and how people get treated by others.

i stop at the last one for impact because that's what i want to matter to you, the reader. let me tell you a story on why pronouns do matter.

a boi is doin his work as a customer service agent, restocking shelves, minding his business, waiting for a customer to ask him a question because it's inevitable.

"ma'am!" he hears from behind him. he doesn't believe that's about him because he's a dude, so he doesn't respond. he feels someone tap his shoulder and he spins around to find a young woman.

"excuse me, ma'am? can you not hear me? i'm right behind you!" she exclaims at him and his eyebrows furrow.

he puts on his customer service smile and bows ever so slightly because he's an anime weeaboo nerd. "sorry, what do you need help with?" he says in a deeper voice than what she thought was going to come from his pretty lightly-glossed lips.

she looks slightly startled and confused, but continues with her questioning, using his incorrect pronouns. he bares it with a smile because it's not like he's gonna see her again. he doesn't want to cause a fuss, make a scene. he's afraid that if he corrects her, she'll blow up about how he's wrong about his own gender and that he's "just confused." it's happened more than 10 times before this. he doesn't want to take the chance, however each time she uses the wrong pronoun, it takes him back to those times.

by the end of the exchange, he feels emotionally battered and she leaves with a smile, knowing where she needs to go, telling the poor boi, "you were very helpful, honey. if only you answered me when i was first calling you."

and she leaves.

he looks down at his hands. they... they look masculine... right? they're boney, yet muscular from how much he lifts bags with his fingers in this job...

he feels at his face. he supposes his cheeks are a bit rounder than most... but is that what makes him look feminine? he's not even wearing any make-up today...

he whips his ponytail. oh, right. his undercut ponytail. but that's so popular for men his age now. he's workin it because hair is pretty changeable.

he sighs, thinking about how he's only supposed to spend 30 seconds stocking a box to a shelf and he wants to get back to the backroom soon...

he kneels to pick up his now empty box that he dropped after his first exchange only to have his second exchange suddenly show up behind him, shoving his personal space bubble up against the aisle wall.

"excuse me, miss. can you tell me where the bathrooms are?" a well-to-do business man in his evening suit questions politely from 1ft away.

feeling awkward, but not wanting to lose gtound or make the customer feel awkward, he gufaws. he collects himself quickly, clearing his throat, before responding "well, bruh, the bathrooms are-" and he explains to the business man where the bathrooms are and how to get to them.

the business man eventually looks confused by the end of the explanation and the boi questions re-explanation. "are you a man or a woman?"

he blinks a few times, sliding his palm over the top of his head to smooth out the hair leading to the ponytail in a strained manner. "excuse me?" he growled through gritted teeth.

the man blinks a few times, realizing what he had just asked. "no, i- you're very pretty."

ok, now the kid is just getting pissed. "i'm a man, but thank you." he says sternly, almost as if scolding. "now if you'll excuse me, sir, i need to get back to stocking. i'm working on a time limit. i wish you a good night." he bows to the business man, giving him a once over before turning and going back to his cart of items in a lackadaisical hoodrat manner.

the business man didn't question it. he left, looking confused with himself.

the boi stood by his cart, trying to meditate to breaking down his box. he begins to refind his zen, waiting for a customer to ask him a question because it's inevitable.

yup. every day life.

as john mulaney puts it "same sh*t as always."

btw that's a story from me. that stuff happens a lot... legit every day life.

people tell me "if you want to be seen as a man so badly, then act like one!" do you know how many dudes have died doin fraternity dares? i'm good. i don't have to prove my masculinity to anyone. as long as i feel like myself at the end of the day, that's what truly matters.

@ people who prefer different pronouns. Can we call you they/them til we learn what you want? I guess it would probably be rude to assume it was he or she before knowing for sure