Pronouns, Gender, and the Left’s Malicious Dissembling of Culture

A funny thing happened on my way to filling out a form at the doctor’s office.

Immediately after writing my name on the new patient form at the allergist’s, I noticed the section prompting me to declare my “pronouns” and to select my “sex assigned at birth.” Newsflash: sex is not “assigned” at birth, it is a scientific fact.  Using a political phrase about “assignment at birth” can cause confusion about a biological fact and a distrust about reality. And that’s the point.

This isn’t the first time I’ve encountered these insidious political questions, and I’m guessing you’ve seen it too. Make no mistake: this seemingly banal addition to forms isn’t harmless; it is a slick demand that we acquiesce to the left’s gender politics or reveal ourselves as dissenters by not playing their game.

It’s the pronoun section I encounter the most, either from my bank, when purchasing a product online, or in this case, when visiting a doctor in New York. My first inclination was to play along and declare my pronouns as Your/Majesty, but the American in me resisted and I became increasingly agitated at the idea that a doctor’s office had sloppily agreed to a forced speech woke trap. But hey, when all your friends are using pronouns then everyone must be on board! Right?!

The left’s pronoun game and the nonsensical “sex assigned at birth” phrase are in reality contrived political statements reinforcing the politicization of transgenderism. Being asked for your pronouns may seem harmless at first, but nothing could be further from the truth. It is the beginning of your training to accept the left’s malicious dissembling of culture and reinforcement of social chaos and fear.

Most of what the left does is initially couched as simple, harmless, well-meaning changes to language to make sure, they insist, that people don’t get their feelings hurt. But as we know, leftists don’t care about people and nothing they do is about helping society. Instead, they are obsessed with deconstructing the success and values of our nation to implement their imagined Marxist utopia. One of the key methods with which to do that is to divide people into Balkanized tribes and then set them upon each other. 

In the 1970s it was political correctness, demanding that we change words they deemed sexist, racist, or homophobic. That was the baby step. In the 21st century, we now have university-sponsored projects developing lists of forbidden and banned words in the name of stopping bigoted language and “hateful” words. Stanford’s effort received such overwhelming derision and criticism that it was eventually shut down, but you know the left never stops. Changing language to create confusion and to control thought is a goal of the left as they know it is the only way they can gain and maintain power. Anyone who can think freely rejects the dangerous and divisive Marxist agenda that has destroyed too many countries and millions of people around the world.

How we speak directly affects how we think. After all, if something is too dangerous to talk about it’s safest to not think about it. If you can be fired for misgendering someone, or attacked at Starbucks by a barista, it becomes a scary thing to decide whether or not to put pronouns on an official form. It’s about bullies using politics to frighten people into compliance or retreat.

By prompting you for your pronouns you are being told transgender politics are to be acknowledged and accepted. You have only two options and both indoctrinate you by requiring you to act even when you reject their premise. Either you fill in the category or you don’t. Not announcing your “pronouns” is itself a statement. No one should be in a position of being forced to make a political statement one way or the other. It can be dangerous especially when the speech is being required by a medical professional or anyone else who has control in some fashion over your life. This is the leftist refinement of bullying and harassment writ large and it must not stand.

Indoctrination is designed to seem simple and easy. But the intention and impact is much more insidious. While at the doctor’s office, contemplating writing Your/Majesty or Hello/Beautiful in the pronoun section, I decided to leave it blank and have a word with the office manager to explain my concern. She, predictably, said it was just to make everyone feel welcomed and comfortable. I explained that they failed because I didn’t feel either of those things. I then briefly explained the political nature of what was happening. She, to her credit, admitted she had never considered the impact and the politics of the issue. Now she does.

Removing the pronoun demand on forms and applications is not an insult to anyone, as it still allows anyone who has a special pronoun requirement to make that known by including it with their name. What would be removed is the prompt to bend the knee to a political agenda.

All of our country’s civil rights movements were rooted in a demand to be left alone and not face obstacles in the pursuit of the American dream. We wanted the same rules, not different rules, for ourselves. What’s happening today with gender politics is a mob of political bullies exploiting the lives of transgender people for money and power, while cynically disguising themselves as civil rights advocates. Instead of personal freedom, they demand that others engage in forced speech, force compliance, use contrived and unscientific language, betray religious beliefs, and ignore personal values. And if you don’t comply you will be punished in one form or another. That’s not a civil rights movement, that’s totalitarianism

Tammy Bruce, an Independent Conservative, has traversed a unique political journey that reflects her commitment to principles rather than party affiliations. She joined Fox News in 2005 as a Political Contributor, hosting her show “Get Tammy Bruce” on Fox Nation and providing insightful commentary on various issues for the Association for Mature Americans (AMAC).

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.