M&S diversity officers give staff pronoun badges……. a step too far?

Awesome idea. Fully support it.

I think I must have missed the English lesson where pronouns were explained as I really don't know what they are

Maybe it might be useful if you need to mention something about an assistant to someone else eg “She told me to queue here” or making a complaint about an assistant.

In such circumstances, I always use the phrase Your colleague (told me to queue here...)

The pronoun writing on the badges I’ve seen in the papers today is so small that I would not be able to read them.

I’m still struggling to think of when I might address someone by a pronoun.

Maybe it might be useful if you need to mention something about an assistant to someone else eg “She told me to queue here” or making a complaint about an assistant.

How many of you are contacting M&S to air your views?
I am.

Aveline

Not just any madness, M&S madness!

That’s the best line of the year!
You should write tag lines for films.?

???? omg when will it stop, I belive ppl sat in lockdown and thought what can we do to wind ppl up ? because it’s definitely working. God made Adam and Eve he didn’t make anybody else ?

Is it April 1st??? So if they are bigender they will have several badges. the mind boggles! ?

Excuse me could you please tell me where the knickers are. Thank you. No name required..

The only people who need pronoun badges are those who have changed theirs from the obvious ones, which is a tiny minority of people. If they need a badge so that others don't call them the wrong thing then they should have them but everyone else doesn't need one.

If enough M&S workers refuse to wear these badges, the company will have to have a rethink.

AugustDay

So what if staff have to wear a badge that says their pronouns? Does that really affect them? Is it an issue in the big scheme of things? I’m not non-binary, but I bet most people who identify as non-binary would see this as a fairly trivial gesture. Stoking culture wars like this trivialises real issues non-binary people are likely to face, such as poorer access to healthcare, mental health issues, violence and discrimination.

This has nothing to do with feeling “non-binary” at all and, just for the record, “non-binary” people have exactly the same access to healthcare etc as everyone else.

This is part of the erosion of women's rights - apparently anyone can say they're a women if that's how they feel. This is a logical step for M&S (to score more Stonewall points) as they have already made the changing rooms in their stores to “unisex”, which means there are no longer safe places for women and girls.

Please dont tell me what I should think is important August, I find that quite controlling.

Here it is:

sex-matters.org/posts/updates/pronouns/

They can’t be forced to share their pronouns if if makes them feel uncomfortable. I did have a great link regarding this but goodness knows where it is now.

It’s a distraction from real issues. Ignore it.

It is a real issue. Please don't ignore it.

I've received emails and letters like that too. It doesn't impress me much about the senders.

I received an email the other day where under his name the writer had put “my pronouns are he him and his.” I’m not making it up!

So what if staff have to wear a badge that says their pronouns? Does that really affect them? Is it an issue in the big scheme of things? I’m not non-binary, but I bet most people who identify as non-binary would see this as a fairly trivial gesture. Stoking culture wars like this trivialises real issues non-binary people are likely to face, such as poorer access to healthcare, mental health issues, violence and discrimination.

I only want to be told where the beans are... I am not interested in the the staff members life choices....

Aveline ?

I don't think I ever refer to staff (or colleagues as some supermarkets call their staff) by their name or a pronoun.

Besides which, if the badge is pinned to the chest area, it seems very rude to peer at their chest/breast to find out their name or preferred pronoun, especially as I am rather short-sighted.

Aveline ?????

Totally batshit I managed to survive several stints with M&S with just my name on my badge

Very silly.
M & should concentrate on their failing business, although it is probably too late. My local branch is closing after Christmas, having been deliberately run down for the past year, and the nearest branch is 37 miles away.

But AugustDay, the staff who have to wear these badges can’t ignore it, if they have no choice as to whether they wear them or not.

My son works for a publishing house, where it's suggested, possibly encouraged, members of staff use pronouns, however, as it's still up to the individual, he doesn't.