Modern life

I assume that smug activists use "woke" as with-it jargon-speak for non-activists, who they believe to have been fast asleep to every ill in the world until the campaigners woke them up.

The same "unwoke" silent majority may have spent their whole lives automatically including the victims of whatever discrimination is currently being highlighted, but unless they shout loudly at every opportunity about their revolutionary work for the excluded, their contribution goes unnoticed. After all, they haven't posted about it on social media, just done it - so it doesn't count.

Woke - definition in the urban Dictionary:

The act of being very pretentious about how much you care about a social issue

Can somebody please explain what "woke" means? It's everywhere now but I haven't a clue!!

Howabout Dear Whatever you are (then name say Braz). Completely stupid, just put madam/sir/mrs/miss/etc after name.

Yes i get these from people in an organisation i occasionally work for. It seems unnecessary to me but then i do not have concerns about my identity but i think it is important we recognise that many do

Modern Life has become unbelievably mad ! Who makes these ridiculous 'rules'. Totally bonkers.

Recently at the beginning of a lecture on transgender issues we were all instructed to introduce ourselves and state our chosen pronoun. It threw me slightly as my addled brain had to refresh itself as to what a pronoun was.
If someone is transgender they apparently may choose to be they/them (singular). A grammatical contradiction in terms I would have thought? But then what do I know. I hadn't considered that I had a chosen pronoun until that lecture.

I worked for an organisation in the 90's which had the option 'current gender' on its forms....

Oh dear, I am the Dear Sir/ Madam brigade,or To whom it may concern, havent used either of these for years thank goodness,What a lot of fuss having to sign your gender, my name shortened can be either gender, but officially there can be no doubt.
What is woke?
Best wishes
Nanny41 (Mrs.)

Just thinking of all the ways I could inadvertently offend someone nowadays when sending a letter or an e-mail. Makes me glad to be retired.

Yes the ramifications here in France don't bear thinking about Conni7 It's a struggle now trying to remember whether things are male or female but maybe gender neutral is the way to go.

In France they're probably not daft enough to enter into the 100 genders thing, Conni7!

Is there a university degree for all this "how to address" a human being in the 21st century? If not there certainly should be. I find the self declaration but very scary. I am really struggling with how people under 18 are regarded as children legally being unable to fully comprehend the result of their actions yet we allow them to self declare their sexual orientation and accommodate their desire to change. Is it only me who feels the world has hone mad?

I wonder what they do in France and other countries. The "vous" (plural) is used for formal conversation, reverting to "Tu" (singular) by agreement. If you use the plural pronoun you would have to alter the tense to the plural. How confusing if you thought you were talking or writing to several people at once! Would it not be easier to use "it" for people who aren't sure what they are?

Thank she for her letter, actually!

I don't think there's any need for me to define myself by marital status in an email or other written correspondence. If someone sends me a business letter, I don't care if they are married or not, unless it's relevant. However, if I were replying to the person in the OP's email, I'd use the second person pronouns you/your! I'd have no reason to refer to them in my letter as the third person she or her!

Dear Whoever, thank you for her letter!

What's that all about? ?
So stating those as their pronouns is a redundancy.

I'm sorry if I've offended you, suziewoozie. It was meant as a chuckle, not a sneer.

susiewoosie
Whatever.

Why do threads like this bring out the vulgar and the nasty?

Hadn't heard of this but it makes me laugh. The people who have demanded this kind of footnote are most probably the ones who don't know what pronouns are!

It’s not about speaking to the person but speaking about them. I expect in the work environment, you get used to it.

To me "they, them" etc. are plurals or they were when I went to school

It's supposed to stop any embarrassment if you have to speak to the person. If they identify as male/female/non binary
so he she they them.
Very confusing at times.

I refuse to use the pronoun 'they' or 'them', which implies a plural, for a person, which is a singular noun . Whatever is in one's pants is what you are, as far as I'm concerned, and I'm 'offended' by anyone trying to persuade me otherwise. It's not just the current 'woke' people who have a right to be offended!!!!

It's not a matter of how to address them but how to refer to them as she/her. I don't know why I would be referring to them in this way in a letter addressed to the person concerned.
It's obviously just a way to say 'I'm female btw'!

Might start signing emails with a link to that song “I am woman .... W O M AN , I’ll say it again....”