Please don't perpetuate Musk's mockery of the practice sharing your pronouns. [View all]

[Ms. Toad]

by making up nonsensical ones of your own (either for yourself or Musk).

Sharing pronouns - especially when you are cisgender and/or your pronouns match your apparent gender - is an invitation to others to tell you their pronouns so that you don't mis-gender someone based on their appearance. It shares the burden of "coming out" with people who are frequently mis-gendered. It sends a message that you are a safe person.

If you're struggling with the concept that you ought to share your own pronouns when you think they are obvious - think about same gender marriage. Even though it is much more accepted these days there is an an emotional burden to always being the different one - the one who has to decide whether to "come out," or to just accept the assumptions people make about you. I've been married to a woman for more than 4 decades - and have never hidden it. But just yesterday I had to decide whether to come out to someone I've been working with since mid-October who apparently didn't pick up on my gender-based references to my spouse. It is a similar (and currently even larger) burden for people who use less apparently obvious or less common pronouns.

Mocking the practice of expressly sharing your pronouns makes DU less welcoming.