Pronoun Pins at the Co-op

Co-op shoppers may have noticed staff wearing pronoun pins at work: she/hers/her, he/his/him, or they/theirs/them. The use of personal pronoun pins aligns with the Co-op’s strategic plan goal of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. It is a one of many steps we are taking to create an inclusive space for both staff and customers.

Respecting an individual’s stated pronoun is important, as it validates a person's identity.

We invite you to learn along with us about personal pronouns and help us create a workplace and a co-op that values every individual.

Word of the Year

In 2019, Merriam Webster named ‘they’ as their word of the year after lookups for they increased by 313% in 2019 over the previous year. “English famously lacks a gender-neutral singular pronoun to correspond neatly with singular pronouns like everyone, someone, and anyone, and as a consequence they has been used for this purpose for over 600 years. More recently, though, they has also been used to refer to one person whose gender identity is nonbinary.”

—Merriam Webster, 'They' Is Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year 2019: Take a deeper dive on our 2019 pick, (9 Dec 2019)

We all learn in different ways. Following are some options for you to learn more about pronoun use. Of course, it is simple to find plenty of information on the topic with a quick Google search using subjects like “gender pronouns” or “pronoun pins in the workplace.” Here are a few samples that we found interesting.

Read—

• Talking About Pronouns in the Workplace, Human Rights Campaign
• Wren Sanders story that goes well-beyond Merriam-Webster’s narrow definition of singular they. What People Get Wrong About They/Them Pronouns, them.us

Video—

• Disclosure (trailer); streaming on Netflix (1 hour 47 minutes)
• Transgender Inclusion in the Workplace: Transitioning at Work (4:11 length)

Podcasts—

• Introducing myself as 'they/them/their' at my workplace (25:52 length), PRI
• Pronoun Power (51:37 length), Call Your Girlfriend