Gender pronouns chart lgbtq
LGBTQIA+ Resource Guide
AFAB: an acronym that stands for “assigned female at birth.” Describes a person who, when they were born, had their sex labeled as “female” by a doctor.
Agender: not having a gender. May identify as gender-neutral or genderless.
AMAB: an acronym that stands for “assigned male at birth.” Describes a person who, when they were born, had their sex labeled as “male” by a doctor.
Androgyne: a gender that is between man and woman or both masculine and feminine.
Bigender: having two genders. These could be static or fluid, and a bigender person might notice that their genders overlap, that they are both genders at the matching time, or that they switch back and forth between the two. These could be any two genders: male and female, female and nonbinary, or two different nonbinary genders like androgyne and maverique, etc.
Cisgender: Not transgender. Describes someone who identifies with the gender they were assigned at birth. For example, a cisgender woman had their sex labeled as female at birth, and still identifies as a woman, while a cisgender man had their sex labeled as ma
What’s a pronoun?
You may be unfamiliar with the synonyms “pronoun,” but you exploit them all the time! Pronouns are used in place of a proper noun (like someone’s name). We use pronouns most often when referring to someone without using their name.
Example: Have you heard from Tom? He hasn’t texted me back all day. He is the pronoun.
Why does it matter?
In English, our most commonly used pronouns (he/she) specifically refer to a person’s gender. For queer, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and gender diverse people, these pronouns may not fit, can construct discomfort, and can bring about stress and anxiety.
A recent study showed that in transgender youth, using adjust pronouns and names reduces depression and suicide risks.
Having trouble understanding why this would upset someone? Reflect about your pronoun (it’s probably “he” or “she”). Now imagine someone calling you the one you don’t think of yourself as. Imagine them doing it over and over and over, even after you’ve corrected them.
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Frequently Asked Questions
It’s okay! Everyone slips up from time to time. The foremost thing to complete if you apply the wrong pronoun for someone is to say something right away, love “Sorry, I meant (insert pronoun)”.
If you realize your mistake after the truth, apologize in intimate and move on.
A lot of the time it can be tempting to go on and on about how bad you perceive that you messed up or how hard it is for you to get it right. Please don’t! It is inappropriate and makes the person who was misgendered perceive awkward and responsible for comforting you, which is absolutely not their job.
Taking an active role in your classes, you may hear one of your students using the mistaken pronoun for someone. In most cases, it is appropriate to gently fix them without further embarrassing the individual who has been misgendered. This means saying something fond “Alex uses the pronoun she,” and then moving on. If other students or faculty are consistently using the incorrect pronouns for someone, do not disregard it! It is important to grant your student grasp that you are their ally.
It may be appropriate to approach them and say something fancy “I noticed that you were getting referred t
Note:
There are no “male/female” or “man/woman” pronouns. All pronouns can be used for any gender and are gender neutral.
We also do not use “preferred pronouns” due to people generally not having a pronoun “preference” but simply having “pronouns.” Using “preferred” can accidentally insinuate that using the correct pronouns for someone is optional.
[image description: a chart of some gender pronouns by Transsexual Student Educational Resources. The columns are the “subjective, objective, possessive, and reflexive” part of each pronoun set and an example.
The first pronoun set is she, her, hers, and herself. The examples are “she is speaking. I listened to her. The backpack is hers.”
The second put is he, him, his, himself. The examples are “he is speaking. I listening to him. The backpack is his.”
The third fix is (singular) they, them, theirs, themself. The examples are “they are speaking. I listened to them. The backpack is theirs.”
The fourth set is ze, hir or zir, hirs or zirs, hirself or zirself. If used it would be ze/hir/hirs/hirself or ze/zir/zirs/zirself. The graphic happened to combine them into one row. The examples included “ze is speaking. I listened to hir. The backp
Gendered Pronoun Resource
| Subject | Object | Possessive | Possessive Pronoun | Reflexive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| He "He Studied" | Him "I called him" | His | His | Himself |
| She "She studied" | Her "I called her" | Her "Her pencil" | Hers "That is hers" | Herself "She trusts herself" |
| They "They studied" | Them "I called them" | Their "Their pencil" | Theirs "That is theirs" | Themselves "They trust themselves" |
Ze (or Zie) Pronounced "zee" | Hir Pronounced "heer" | Hir "Hir pencil" | Hirs "That is hirs" | Hirself "Ze trusts hirself" |
This is not an exhaustive list. It is good practice to ask which pronouns a person uses.
How to Inquire About Pronouns
(Information adapted from American University’s Pronoun Guide)
The easiest way to initiate a conversation about pronouns is to offer your own first. This makes space for others to do the same if they are ready to. For example, “My label is Sam and my pronouns are he and him.”
At an Event
- Put a space on the nametag, or add into the sign-in instructions for folks to share their label and pronouns if they’d like.
- Normalize pronoun sharing within group spaces- th