Man threatened by the very existence of gender turns trans woman down because ‘she uses pronouns’
A man was confused by the existence of pronouns.
A man told a woman that he was “figuring out if he wanted to have sex with her” until he noticed she had gender pronouns in her Twitter bio.
The failed attempt at seduction took place after Vex Humana sent a tweet about the comedian Hannibal Buress, which went viral.
Among many other replies, a man known only by the twitter handle @hautmess7 slid into her inbox, writing: “I came here defending Hannibal Buress. Now I’m trying to figure out if I want to have sex with you.”
He told a romantic tale of his days as a Chicago high school student in 1989.
“I took a girl to see sex lies and videotape downtown. I f***ed her. Can I strike gold twice?”
Two minutes later, without any prompting, he continued to describe these formative years.
“I used to skip school and just read every novel I could. I becamw [sic] a genius. But is it enough to f*** you?”
Before Vex could respond, he noticed she had included her pronouns in her Twitter bio.
“You use pronouns. Nevermind.”
why are men pic.twitter.com/c9WeETmrEK
— industrial gf ? (@vexhumana) October 28, 2019
Pronouns are used by the majority of people who communicate using words.
It is a popular practice for people to share their pronouns when introducing themselves, whether in conversation, on their social media bio or in their email signature.
For people who are trans, non-binary or gender non-conforming, this is an effective way to let people know how they should be addressed. Increasingly, cis people are also often sharing their pronouns to show support to the trans community and to normalise the act.
Vex told PinkNews that she suspects the man’s real issue was with the fact that she is trans.
“There’s a recurring phrase, ‘pronouns in bio’, which is used by people who are hostile to trans people to invalidate your opinion,” she said.
“I suspect this guy meant to write that but got confused.”
She admitted that she has “gotten some pretty gross messages like that before”, and says that part of her was “repulsed” by the man’s vulgarity.
“I did think the phrasing was pretty funny,” she added. “For the past day or so my girlfriend and I have just been quoting bits of the DM here and there, especially that last part that everyone thinks is so funny. His prose had me in tears.”
Having two tweets go viral in two days has “been real weird”, Vex added, but said she hoped a silver lining would come from the experience.
“You’ve probably noticed that I’ve tacked my dear friend’s GoFundMe link on to both viral posts to drum up funds for his recovery after surgery. So if folks could hit that up, that’d be really cool. I’d love for him to get his s*** funded out of this very weird and annoying ordeal.”
lol let’s give this another shot- hey folks. my dear friend @literate_coyote is an urgent need of funds for his recovery after surgery. please consider making a donation. any little bit helps! please RT, like, and share ? https://t.co/tJeymuhgte pic.twitter.com/EClJrj5qyf
— industrial gf ? (@vexhumana) October 28, 2019
Earlier this year US presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren added her pronouns to her Twitter bio as part of her commitment “to running an inclusive campaign”.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also introduced his pronouns at the PinkNews Awards 2019, announcing himself with: “My name is Jeremy Corbyn, pronouns he/him.”
Vex said that in her opinion, “If people are comfortable having their pronouns displayed on social media then they should put them up there.”
