Submitted by Nichole (she/her) on August 19, 2019, at 15:38
Love this article!
The part where you say "Perhaps you don’t feel as attached to your pronouns, but perhaps you’ve never had to assert them as valid" reminded me of a point from my childhood. It is nothing compared to what you most likely went through (I have a decent understanding even though I am Cis--my son is transgender), but it felt like a very small link. When I was probably 6, I had very short hair and was misgendered quite a few times. I was very bothered by this and became very anxious about what people thought about me. I started wanting to wear dresses all the time to make my gender clear to people. I had never questioned my gender identity and I can only imagine how horrible this situation could feel to a child who was questioning their gender identity at the time. Again I realize that this does in no way compare, but it is an incident from my life that "clicked" when I read your article. Maybe there are other Cisgender people out there with similar experiences that can help them understand these struggles in a small way.
I already feel it, but reading those sentences in this article made me realize even more how upsetting it is to have someone use the wrong pronouns.
I will hug my boy even tighter because of this realization.
Thank you for sharing.
The part where you say "Perhaps you don’t feel as attached to your pronouns, but perhaps you’ve never had to assert them as valid" reminded me of a point from my childhood. It is nothing compared to what you most likely went through (I have a decent understanding even though I am Cis--my son is transgender), but it felt like a very small link. When I was probably 6, I had very short hair and was misgendered quite a few times. I was very bothered by this and became very anxious about what people thought about me. I started wanting to wear dresses all the time to make my gender clear to people. I had never questioned my gender identity and I can only imagine how horrible this situation could feel to a child who was questioning their gender identity at the time. Again I realize that this does in no way compare, but it is an incident from my life that "clicked" when I read your article. Maybe there are other Cisgender people out there with similar experiences that can help them understand these struggles in a small way.
I already feel it, but reading those sentences in this article made me realize even more how upsetting it is to have someone use the wrong pronouns.
I will hug my boy even tighter because of this realization.
Thank you for sharing.