Mick Hartley

It's getting sillier and sillier:

Lecturers at a leading university are being given guidance on neopronouns, which include emoji labels and catgender, where someone identifies as a feline.

The University of Bristol has provided guidance for its staff on "using pronouns at work", urging them to declare in verbal introductions and email signatures whether they use he/him, she/her or they/them, to support transgender students.

But unlike myriad pronoun manuals on other campuses, Bristol lecturers are also directed to neopronouns which include “emojiself pronouns”, where colourful digital icons – commonplace on social media – are used to represent gender in written and spoken conversation.

Are they serious? Apparently they are.

Bristol’s guide explains that some people use "neopronouns such as Ze/Zir/Zirs". A website linked to by Bristol's guide, explains that neopronouns are third-person pronouns that are not officially recognised in the language they are used in.

This directs to a webpage by LGBTA Wiki, which says these are used by those who feel their gender is beyond the male or female binary, and lists "emoji pronouns" as an example.

Staff are told on the website: "Emojiself pronouns are a subcategory of nounself pronouns, which are pronouns that, instead of using letters, utilize emojis.

"These pronouns are not intended to be pronounced out loud and are only intended for online communication. In spoken conversation one may or may not use pronouns that are based on the emoji."

Another section explains how noun-self pronouns are used by "xenic" individuals whose gender does not fit within "the Western human binary of gender alignments". The webpage adds: "For example, someone who is catgender may use nya/nyan pronouns."

Catgender, it says, is someone who "strongly identifies" with cats or other felines and those who "may experience delusions relating to being a cat or other feline". The word nyan is Japanese for "meow".

Bristol’s guide says that if staff make a mistake by using the wrong pronoun, "it is important not to become defensive or make a big deal out of it. Simply thank the person for correcting you, apologise swiftly, and use the correct pronouns going forward".

It urges lecturers to be "proactive" by stating their pronouns voluntarily at the start of conversations and meetings, to create a normal culture on campus that avoids needing to ask one’s pronouns or making assumptions based on looks….

A University of Bristol spokesperson said it was "committed to gender inclusion. The correct use of pronouns is important to some members of our University community. The information on our website is designed to help people understand the different variations and nuances that this covers". 

No doubt the people who wrote this drivel see themselves as at the cutting edge of progressive social change. But this isn't just another of those "old people moaning about what the young are up to nowadays" scenarios. This is serious shit. As we've seen, all this nicety-nice inclusivity bullshit hides a regressive ideology that is inflicting enormous harm on society. Not only are we expected to indulge this specious claptrap in case we offend those who must-never-be-offended, but we're also lending credence to an ideology that's reversing all the gains made by feminism and gay liberation over the past fifty years or so. Gender stereotypes are no longer something to be overcome: they're the defining features of our new world.

Lesbians? Forget about it. If you're a girl who finds herself attracted to other girls, you're not a girl at all. Yes, we can fix that with irreversible medical intervention. No worries.

It's not often that philosophers nowadays make a significant impact on the world – so yes, the deep thinkers behind gender theory can be very proud. A pile of all those breasts amputated from young women convinced that they have gender dysphoria: that'd be a suitable tribute. The Judith Butler Monument.