Having difficulty understanding transgendered people? I'll try to help.

[Dismal purple]

Man, I remember back in the day before we had cisgender as a word. Referring to cis people as "straight" made the lgbt community look exclusive as hell. Not to mention that it's genuinely awkward to discuss these topics without a word for the rest of the population.

"I think that STRAIGHT people..."
"People who are not trans..."
"Non-trans"

Now I can just call them cisscum and be done with it. (I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I don't actually refer to people as cisscum)

 

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

Man, I remember back in the day before we had cisgender as a word. Referring to cis people as "straight" made the lgbt community look exclusive as hell. Not to mention that it's genuinely awkward to discuss these topics without a word for the rest of the population.

"I think that STRAIGHT people..."
"People who are not trans..."
"Non-trans"

Now I can just call them cisscum and be done with it. (I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I don't actually refer to people as cisscum)

It beats what the LGBT community used to call Bisexuals... "Confused, selfish, jerks." Lots of progress in a short time on all fronts, if we're being honest.

I actually heard someone unironically use the term cisscum in person once, I wanted to smack the smug right off their face.

Also I know gays who still say "gay, straight, or lying" when it comes to bisexuals. I don't interact much with lesbians, because when I get outed to them they instantly turn hostile to me.

Edit: Also it's like there sectors in the LGBT community who use the term "breeder" to show their outright hatred and disdain for heterosexuals.

 

[Darkmantle]

Snip

Cishet is most often, by a wide margin I'd say, used in the pejorative sense. Further, it's a word that is used primarily on people who do not accept that label.

I understand the comparison is not the exact same but hear me out, isn't this basically why the "n-word" is such an unmentionable thing today?

Not to mention the auditory similarity of "cishet" to other pejorative words, like for example "shit".

I can already hear the counter argument, "there wasn't slavery, cishet is the majority not the minority". I understand. But I disagree that it's acceptable to do the same thing that hurt you to others. You want people to respect what you want to be called, respect what others want to be called.

 

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

Well you know all of this. I'll just say, Yes... I agree, and I've enjoyed reading this thread. It's a pleasure to see a conversation online that is more like one offline than not, with hard questions being asked and answered with respect.

This is exactly why I started this thread, that and floating around trans topics it always seems like there is a feeling of; "don't question just accept!" That isn't what the trans community really wants either, it's counter productive to stamping out fear, hate, and bigotry, it actually almost entirely halts progress when no questions are allowed. A lot of trans people from my experience want to talk about trans issues, because we want to be understood, we want to be seen as normal, sure we're different, but we're still human too.

 

[The Lunatic]

I think if you have to constantly explain how something "Isn't a slur" you might want to accept that a lot of people think it's a slur, and maybe they're right.

 

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

I think if you have to constantly explain how something "Isn't a slur" you might want to accept that a lot of people think it's a slur, and maybe they're right.

There is an arguement for that at least in principal, I'll admit that. Which begs the question of what should we do to fix this? Seriously sitting around and complaining and arguing about it isn't going to fix things. So we either need to change the vernacular use in most terms to be neutral and non-discriminatory, or we need a new fresh word to classify people with the same gender identity as their assigned birth sex. The problem though here is that the side complaining about the word as a perjorative, is not offering any help in the matter what so ever, and use it as an arguement to discriminate against transgender people often.

 

[The Philistine]

Snip

Cishet is most often, by a wide margin I'd say, used in the pejorative sense. Further, it's a word that is used primarily on people who do not accept that label.

snip

I'd throw it more on being an unfamiliar label that generally wasn't ask for because most people falling under the cis label have grown up identifying themselves as "normal". Given time and regular use, it may eventually see regular use for self-identification like "hetero".

What'll really throw a wrench in the works is "cis" phonetically sounding like shothand for "sissy". A guaranteed way to start a fight with young heterosexual males.

 

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

Snip

Cishet is most often, by a wide margin I'd say, used in the pejorative sense. Further, it's a word that is used primarily on people who do not accept that label.

snip

I'd throw it more on being an unfamiliar label that generally wasn't ask for because most people falling under the cis label have grown up identifying themselves as "normal". Given time and regular use, it may eventually see regular use for self-identification like "hetero".

What'll really throw a wrench in the works is "cis" phonetically sounding like shothand for "sissy". A guaranteed way to start a fight with young heterosexual males.

Hell it could start a fight with young cisgender males of any sexuality, or older ones... Actually worse is calling a gay man a sissy that's a terrible insult to them generally speaking. With that out of the way MarsAtlas rightfully said:

In my experience the complaint is always that the word should be "normal" instead, so I usually ignore such complaints. Thats off topic from the general point of the thread, however.

So can we stop derailing the thread with a debate on the term cisgender please?

 

[The Lunatic]

In my experience the complaint is always that the word should be "normal" instead, so I usually ignore such complaints. Thats off topic from the general point of the thread, however.

Normal has a pretty relative meaning.

I don't take offence in discussions of sexuality that people call themselves "Normal" as a difference to my homosexuality. Minority groups such as myself are "Abnormal" on a statistical level, no amount of complaining will suddenly make "Normal" not be an applicable term to describe the majority of people.

I mean, we're talking about a matter of identity. If I can accept that males want to identify as women, and various other gender and sexual identities, it seems very hypocritical to decry those that dare to identify as "Normal".

 

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

In my experience the complaint is always that the word should be "normal" instead, so I usually ignore such complaints. Thats off topic from the general point of the thread, however.

Normal has a pretty relative meaning.

I don't take offence in discussions of sexuality that people call themselves "Normal" as a difference to my homosexuality. Minority groups such as myself are "Abnormal" on a statistical level, no amount of complaining will suddenly make "Normal" not be an applicable term to describe the majority of people.

I mean, we're talking about a matter of identity. If I can accept that males want to identify as women, and various other gender and sexual identities, it seems very hypocritical to decry those that dare to identify as "Normal".

Perhaps you have a valid point there. Also I personally revel in the territory of "weird" happily, but then again it's hard to be seen as "normal" when so much of my wardrobe is made up of Japanese lolita fashion. But that's beside the point.

I think if you have to constantly explain how something "Isn't a slur" you might want to accept that a lot of people think it's a slur, and maybe they're right.

Have you ever actually heard someone claim that when they're not safely anonymous? It's like most of the other "Online Only" stances... if it doesn't exist offline, why should anyone bother with you? It puts in me in mind of MRA types, but in real life they're almost inevitably marginalized losers, or just good old fashioned nuts.

I don't trust movements or types of people that can only exist online...

That's an interesting point, I've also never managed to offend someone in person by informing them that their gender identity matching the sex the were assigned at birth, makes them cisgender. I've confused some people with the term, but never outright offended anyone with it.

Now what did I just tell everyone? Please stop derailing this thread with off topic debates. This is here for people who are honestly having difficulty with understanding transgender people, and a place where they can ask questions without being judged harshly for it.