Student's odd protest of "political correctness" raises bigger issues
 |
| Grant Strobl, now "His Majesty," chairs the far-right student group Young Americans for Freedom, and is using this stunt to challenge "political correctness" |
A University of Michigan student has officially changed his
personal pronoun to “His Majesty.”
The student, who is politically conservative, did so to call
attention to and ridicule the university policy which allows students to select
their own designated personal pronouns.
A personal pronoun is the term others use to refer to you when
they don’t use your name: he, she, her, him, they, them, etc. The English
language doesn’t offer a gender-neutral singular pronoun other than “it,” but
we generally do not use the objectifying term “it” to refer to people.
Most of us are assigned a sex at birth — male or female — and we
grow into the corresponding gender identity that matches our sex. That gender
binary dominates our western social structure and is instilled in us from
birth.
From the moment the doctors told my mom “It’s a girl,” I began
to identify as a woman. It’s a privilege that I’ve never felt the categories of
“man” and “woman” constrain me in any way. I embrace my womanhood. I am
attracted to men.
But that’s not so for all Americans.
As an educator, I have students of all backgrounds in my
classes. And I’ve learned it’s not wise to make assumptions about my students.
It’s not my business who’s questioning their gender or sexual orientation, or
who grew up poor, or who has a mental illness — but all of those situations and
more may be going on in my students’ lives.
They’re all my students. I want to make our classroom a
comfortable environment for learning, and that includes referring to
them by the personal pronoun they identify with.
His Majesty, at the University of Michigan, is attempting to
show that students who change their pronouns are doing so arbitrarily, with no
basis in reality.
His Majesty is likely a straight white man. If so, he’s probably
never had to deal with misogyny, homophobia, or racism. He’s likely never had
to act a role prescribed by society as masculine even though it didn’t fit the
person he knew himself to be.
Often it’s people like him — those in the most privileged
demographics of our society — who balk at “political correctness.”
It’s silly, they may think, even arbitrary, as His Majesty
contends. Or it’s an annoying way that people try to police the behavior of
others for no good reason.
But political correctness is not an end in itself. There are
real harms inflicted upon those whose identities are erased by society. And
they start with homo and transphobic jokes, language, or publicity stunts —
calling yourself “His Majesty,” for example — at the expense of transgender and
genderqueer people.
Those who oppose “political correctness” are simply trying to
remain at the top of an unjust society and shield themselves from their own
intolerance.
Preferred personal pronouns help to ensure that already
marginalized groups are not excluded and recognize the real pain that
insensitivity causes. And while you may not personally understand the life
experiences of someone very different from you, that doesn’t mean you can’t be
kind to them.
In short, another phrase for “political correctness” is “not
being a jerk,” and the University of Michigan is taking the right steps in
helping to foster a safe learning environment for every student.
OtherWords
columnist Jill Richardson is the author of Recipe for America: Why
Our Food System Is Broken and What We Can Do to Fix It. Distributed
by OtherWords.org.