“Are you a man or a woman?” If your readers don’t know you, they may be asking that question. These days you may write to people around the world from many cultures, people who may not be able to identify your gender from your name.
Over the past month, people who signed up for my newsletter, Better Writing at Work, had the first (given) names below. Can you tell the men from the women?
Karthik
Valentine
Kobirul
Harinder
Darwin
WeiWen
Konstanze
Narinder
Fatmir
Li-Ming
Sumaya
Kinga
Setsuko
Akenu
Anil
Wanet
Shabbir
Kukuh
Yoav
Pat
I know I cannot be sure of their gender. I also know that my name, Lynn, can be both a man’s and a woman’s name.
To help people recognize your gender and address you correctly with the courtesy title Mr. or Ms. in formal communication, include a title in your typed signature. Mine would look like this:
(Ms.) Lynn Gaertner-Johnston
Or add the title to your handwritten signature in a letter:
(Ms.) Lynn Gaertner-Johnston
If you prefer not to reveal your gender, do nothing, or use just your initials for your first and middle names.
L. Gaertner-Johnston
This post was inspired by a reader named Jazira from Singapore. Hmmm–do you think Jazira is a man or a woman?
Lynn