Gender is a social construct. This means that gender is an abstract concept that was construed based on what the majority of people in a society follow.

One of the many factors that make human beings so incredibly unique is having a highly evolved brain. This gives humans the ability to think, plan, and worry with complex emotions.

Together, humans form a society.

So, humans created societal norms, including gender norms.

And humans can choose to identify against those pre-set gender norms.

Identity is an important topic to talk about because it can be challenging. Any topic that is challenging and forces you to reflect thoughtfully is important and worthwhile. Any topic that may be uncomfortable to confront means it is absolutely necessary to do so.

Identity allows humans to attempt to understand who they are and why they behave in a certain way. It also provides an outlet for creativity so humans can develop into their own unique being. Without identity, people would not have the opportunity to fully embrace who they are in this life.

Gender identity is a hot topic right now. It is up to us to help create a safe, understanding world where all people are always provided the right to identify however they wish to. There are so many major issues in the world. Why are we wasting time to dispute how humans wish to identify when that time fighting over pronouns could be spent solving the world's problems such as global warming, homelessness, and injustice (just to name a few)?

Pronouns are a personal preference that is not an easy decision to determine. If a human being is making the brave choice to use pronouns that do not align with society's set of pronouns assigned to this person, then as positive bystanders, we should all strive to honor those pronouns. Showing up with a heart of love, acceptance, and courageous empathy is a great way to tell somebody that you see them, you acknowledge their choice, and you will do your best to honor this decision. Fighting, questioning, and entirely neglecting the person's identity demonstrates that you are ignorant and creates more tension in a world where stress, tension, and negativity are sadly in abundance.

We are all trying to make it through the challenges of the world in different ways. Having a strong sense of identity is important in doing so. Rather than creating more chaos and dismissing people's pronouns, let's do the mature thing and start using people's preferred pronouns. All. The. Time.

This will create a culture of respect for all people.

After all, humans are humans are humans are humans.