The Grammar of Social Justice: Gender Non-Binary Pronouns and the Writing Centre

Abstract

This paper discusses our writing centre’s outreach to trans and gender non-conforming students on our campus and the subsequent responses to this. Specifically, our writing centre embarked on an outreach campaign through promotional materials and sponsored events. During and following the 2016 U.S. presidential election, we found our outreach posters repeatedly defaced. We present a case study of this situation, beginning with background information about our campus and a review of events. In order to think through the potential for a transformative response to these events, we explore the history and reasoning behind the use of gender non-binary pronouns; Michel Foucault’s theory of discourse and power; and José Esteban Muñoz’s theory of disidentification. Lastly, we present what we have done since late 2016 and what we recommend as further steps towards a transformative response.