This University Agreed To Use "Mx." On Diplomas For Students Who Don't Identify As A "Mr." Or "Ms."

NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, has issued its first-ever gender-neutral certificate to ‘Mx.’ Anindita Mukherjee.

NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, has issued its first-ever gender-neutral certificate to 'Mx.' Anindita Mukherjee.

Anindita Mukherjee

What makes this certificate gender-neutral is the use of the honorific 'Mx.' instead of the usual Mr., Ms., and Mrs.

The title ‘Mx.’ (pronounced “mux” or “mix”) does not specify the gender of the individual referred to. It is commonly used by people who identify outside the conventional masculine-feminine gender binary.

The person who made this happen at Nalsar was none other than the student whose certificate it is, Anindita Mukherjee (Mukherjee prefers to be referred to as "they" instead of "he" or "she"). Here’s how they did it.

"The beauty of the whole thing lay in the complete lack of any hurdles," Mukherjee, who didn't have a hard time convincing the Nalsar administration to take the step, told BuzzFeed in an email.

"I made one request to the university administration, and the change was made. For me, this speaks to the immense power administrations have in making lives easier or more difficult for students. The fact that it is presumed I had to struggle points to how rarely we see them making life easier, and how common it is for meaningless hurdles to be created. This is the moment at which I doff my hat at NALSAR's present administration," they said.

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"The battle on the Mr. and Mrs. front has more to do with marital status and how honorifics are used to place women within roles. To use a gender-neutral honorific serves a somewhat different function, I think," Mukherjee further said in their email.

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"Unfortunately, the way in which we name persons is also gendered, so there are other methods by which determinations can be made of the gender of a person.

Using a gender-neutral title in that context is more of a statement in that you're either saying that you do not identify as either a man or a woman, or you're saying that you think your gender is irrelevant in that context. Whether that assertion alone can undo the structures that constrain women professionally, I doubt, but it does open up spaces for conversations," they said.

Mukherjee said the transgender cause is premised on the argument that gender is not a fixity, and that persons can not only transition from one gender role to another but many live lives without ever conforming to either the roles of being a 'man' or a 'woman'.

"Unfortunately, we are still in nascent stages in terms of developing language with which to speak of such realities with respect. Having gender-neutral pronouns and honorifics is an important part of that process. Besides, the more the use of gender neutral language increases, the easier we would find it to think outside of the gender binary, I think," they said in the email interview.

NDTV Video / Via youtube.com

We asked Mukherjee what introducing ungendered titles in institutions and organisations can do for India's bigger picture.

They explained that since these are tiny steps, they, alone, make little difference to the bigger social structure, but are powerful if they reflect a broader perspective towards the world.

"If using gender-neutral language is one way in which institutions and organisations begin to recognise the constructed nature of gender roles and, in the process, start dismantling the ways in which they themselves enact those roles (like excluding trans* students, different hostel timings based on gender, moral policing, etc.), then it could indeed be a baby step towards something wonderful.

I feel somewhat ashamed to say that I don't know any other students working on introducing gender-neutral titles with their institution administrations; not personally. I wish I had put greater effort into building solidarities with comrades across institutions, but I am guessing this is as good a time as any to start," they concluded in their email.