…I ain’t got no time for lovin’
‘Cause my time is all used up
Just to sit around creatin’
All that groovy kind of stuff
But I’m a man, yes I am
And I can’t help but love you so…
— ‘I’m a Man’ by the Spencer Davis Group, 1967
I was too young to appreciate the song, “I’m a Man”, when Stevie Winwood sang it with the Spencer Davis Group. But my parents were big fans of the band Chicago — beginning back when they were still called Chicago Transit Authority — and Chicago had included a version of the song on one of their albums, so I got to hear it growing up.
I couldn’t understand most of the lyrics, which was probably a good thing. (I was still pretty young.) Except the chorus was very easy to understand.
I’m a Man, yes I am, and I can’t help but love you so.
It seemed to me, as a boy growing up, that this song defined the essential condition of the world.
Men don’t want to love women, but they can’t help it.
I will mention one album that my parents didn’t own: Tammy Wynette’s ‘Stand By Your Man’. Therefore, I wasn’t provided the opportunity, as a young man, to understand the female point of view. Sadly enough.
The situation has become more confusing lately, however.
At the end of January, federal employees were instructed to remove the pronouns from the signature line of their emails.
We’ve all probably noticed the inclusion of pronouns in certain organization emails. “He/Him/His” or “She/Her/Hers”. This has been incredibly helpful when corresponding with an unfamiliar person named “Pat” or “Blake” or “Phoenix”. (Not so much when the person’s name is “John” or “Mary”.)
But as events have unfolded, some people started using gender-neutral pronouns. “They/Them/Theirs” or even “Xe/Xem/Xir”. I understand that some people don’t consider themselves to be male or female, but would still like to include pronouns in their email signature. In which case, the name “Pat” poses no issues whatsoever.
The federal government, however, doesn’t really care to know whether “Pat” is a man or a woman, because they are more concerned that people might be making a statement, in their signature line, about gender identity. Our government has determined that no one will be allowed to present themselves as “woke”. Or, God forbid, as “gender-neutral”.
Especially, journalists.
Thus, today’s column.
As you may have noticed, most of the regular columnists represented in the Daily Post are unapologetically male… and, like me, learned about the world from the record albums owned by their parents. But the Daily Post does get a lot of press releases from women working for various organization, political parties, and government agencies, and some of the contributors include pronouns in their signature lines.
I’m sure our editor finds those pronouns helpful.
Of course, a journalist named John has not obvious need to include pronouns in “his” signature line. But “he” includes it to show that “he’s” supportive of people who consider themselves gender-flexible. And also, to be supportive of people named “Pat.”
Not everyone wants to be supportive, however. Some of us want to be politically divisive. Or can’t help it.
The New York Times reported last week that two of its journalists received responses from administration officials, informing them that they had better not include pronouns in their email inquiries if they expected a response.
In one case, a reporter, asking about the closure of a research observatory, received an email reply from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, saying:
As a matter of policy, we do not respond to reporters with pronouns in their bios.
From NBC News:
In a statement to other news outlets, Leavitt said that “Any reporter who chooses to put their preferred pronouns in their bio clearly does not care about biological reality or truth, and therefore cannot be trusted to write an honest story.”
Which makes me feel extremely lucky that I’ve never included my pronouns (“He/Him/His”) into any emails I’ve sent to the White House, because that would obviously mean I cannot be trusted to write an honest story.
And friends, this is an honest story. Regardless of my pronouns.
Painfully honest.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.