Buddle Findlay is committed to providing an inclusive, healthy and safe working environment where our people and our clients treat each other with dignity, respect and professionalism. As part of this commitment, Buddle Findlay gives its people the option to display their pronouns in their email signature.
What are pronouns?
Pronouns are the words we use to address each other when not using the person’s name (for example, 'he/him/his', 'she/her/hers' and 'they/their/theirs'). Binary gendered pronouns (he/him/his and she/her/hers) also reference the gender of the person in question.
What is gender identity?
‘Gender identity’ and ‘gender’ are interchangeable terms. It is our internal sense of being male, female, neither of these, both, etc. Our gender can correlate with our assigned sex at birth, or it can be different from it.
Why do we use pronouns in our email signatures?
Using the right pronouns when referring to someone - like using the right name - demonstrates respect and belonging for that person. Those of us socialised to think of gender in a binary way often assume a person's pronouns based on their name or appearance, but these assumptions can be wrong. Displaying your pronouns in your email signature removes this process of assumption, letting others know how to refer to you and signalling that you are not making these assumptions of them.
Allyship for transgender, non-binary and intersex employees
Those most negatively affected by this process of assuming a person’s gender based on their name, appearance or other physical cues are the transgender, non-binary and intersex communities. These communities of people often present in a way that subverts historical expectations of gender and are therefore consistently needing to correct people who have incorrectly assumed their gender.
Even if you are a person who is usually gendered correctly, pro-actively sharing our pronouns and seeking clarity on the pronouns of others are powerful allyship actions as they encourage a culture without assumptions about people's genders.
Buddle Findlay is committed to creating a safe and inclusive space for all regardless of their gender, gender expression or sex characteristics. Part of that is ensuring our people can use the pronouns that are accurate for them, and have these pronouns reflected back to them by their colleagues.