Official FAQ on CoC Changes and Pronouns
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meta.stackexchange.com
Am I reading this right that if a user states their pronouns in their profile, and those pronouns are neopronouns such as bun/buns/bunself, that the only accepted way to refer to that person is via those pronouns?
So yeah, if you think the pronouns are just trolling you're welcome to report it.
"The unfamiliar cases, rather than trolls, could be troublesome."
"@CesarM How does one know if something is requested in bad faith, especially if it's a "neopronoun" they've never seen before? Who says that one pronoun is any less legitimate than another?"
"@CesarM How do we determine what is requested in bad faith? What, exactly, is a pronoun? If a user requests "qwfg" and "poiu" as pronouns are those bad faith or just new neo-pronouns? I know that's kind of a trolling question but as a moderator I need to know how to respond when a troll tries that."
"@CesarM but how in the world would you moderate if someone is doing it in bad faith or not? Wouldn't simply saying 'no one would choose a pronoun like attack-helicopter' be invalidating an individual's feelings, especially if they're being genuine."
"I've actually seen a case, in general discussion around neopronouns, where someone mentioned an example and someone else said "please keep this discussion to real pronouns, it's not helpful to use made-up ones as an example" only to realise that those were actually real (accepted) neopronouns."
"@CesarM that's a whole can of worms you're opening there. The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the embodiment of this. Court cases by members of them have been won in lots of (Western) countries, precisely because a judge cannot determine whether something is bad-faith or a religion. If I state my religion requires you to address me as "attack-helicopter", you have to. Who are you to judge my religion? This is why pastafarians have managed to go on passport photos in most Western countries with a sieve on their heads."
"This could easily be weaponized by trolls. VERY easily."
"@CesarM I think many people would like to hear an answer on what your definition of "bad faith" is. How do you determine this, and is your definition the same as all the other mods? How do you know someone's intentions and feelings over the internet? Are you going to question the person about it? Do you grill them until they break and have them use whatever pronouns you deem "acceptable"? Do you have a master list of "accepted" pronouns and rejected ones? Although the intentions are good, I think policing language in this way is a slippery slope."