Why pronouns? Follow

We ask for some information from you so that we can match you if you volunteer to help through our system. It makes it a friendlier place, for example, if we know what your nickname is, so we know what to call you.

In a similar way, here at Voluntarily, we respect and acknowledge the principle that people can define who they are and how they want to be addressed and treated.

A basic sign of respect for a person's gender identity is asking for and using their preferred pronoun. When we refer to people in communications such as email or on-screen notifications we want to ensure that we use the words people want us to use.  While this is often thought of as a gender identity issue it is just as easily considered to be a culture and language issue.

We will use these pronouns in our communications with people - for example in automated email responses, maybe like this:

Kia ora Netty,

Chris has invited you to ‘building robots' They will be in touch shortly with some more details. If you have to cancel at short notice you can call them directly. Their phone number is 021 123 4566

See? Having pronouns available makes for communications read more naturally, and its as simple as that!

Some Common Pronouns

Here are some pronouns that people use. This is not an exhaustive list, but it should give you an idea where to start! You can read more about pronouns and why they matter here.

• she / her / hers / herself

• he / him / his / himself

• they / them / theirs / themselves

• ze / hir / hirs / hirself

• ze / zir / zirs / zirself

• xey / xem / xyrs / xemself