As you know, the traditional idea of etiquette tends to revolve around what fork to use at dinner (the outside one!) or what “white tie” means (as formal as it gets). But this is fairly useless day-to-day information.
There aren’t many opportunities to use fifteen pieces of silverware or to wear a backless dress. (Though, someone please invite me to that party. It is a life goal of mine to wear a backless dress.)
I think we can agree that the day-to-day is changing, and to our great-grandparents, the day-to-day might even be a little bizarre. I think we can also agree that change sometimes leaves us at a loss, especially when it comes to gender and self-definition. To demonstrate, let me recount a story told to me by a friend of mine, we’ll call her Diana. Mostly because that’s her name.
“I was working at Borders and I had just shaved my head. A little boy came running up to me and asked, ‘Are you a boy or a girl?’ His mother was mortified. She tried to call him back, and she apologized to me. I had never been happier. That was absolutely the right thing to do. He didn’t know, so he asked. That’s what everyone should do.”
As adults, we have this idea of “politeness as silence” ingrained into us. Probably because we don’t want to look stupid, and we’ve become convinced that every question we ask will embarrass others. Mostly, we don’t want to look like we’re not omniscient. But, let’s remember, in this situation the kid had it right.
As Diana has indoctrinated in me over the four to six times I’ve heard this story, in the Trans community, self-identity is key.
Guessing is far more offensive than merely asking, and asking is actually a sign of respect. After all, you are giving the other person the right to their own gender autonomy and are deferring to their vision of themselves. And that’s not just appropriate, polite behavior, it’s awesome. And always ask in private, not in front of the whole village. The kid got away with it, but he was six. You can use a little more decorum than that, I would hope.
Some ideas on how to ask:
- “What pronoun do you prefer?”
- “How do you identify?”
- Or, the best ever, “What’s your name?” Because if someone’s name is Christine or Samantha, there’s a good chance that they identify as female.
Please remember that after asking, (and if you don’t need to ask, you really shouldn’t) you should always use the correct pronoun and the name that was given to you to use. And if you mess it up? Apologize once and move on. Don’t make a big deal out of it. Nobody wants his or her differences pointed out over and over. Just be cool, man. And really, isn’t that the point of it all? Just be cool.
For more information go to:
iamtransgendered.com
tranifesto.com
thinkagaintraining.com
Want more etiquette? Ask a question! You can ask it in the comments below, send me a
message, or send an email to amandamarieg@gmail.com!
3 replies on “Gender and Etiquette: Uh-Oh”
So, so much could go wrong with guessing.
I can’t imagine a circumstance where I would try to guess. In an employment situation, I have asked what pronoun someone prefers, and she thanked me for asking in a sensitive but not tap-dancing-around-the-question way.
I can kind of understand being uncomfortable with asking directly, though I definitely CANNOT fathom trying to guess. You only have to make the mistake of calling someone the wrong pronoun once to realize how embarrassing that is.