Cis People Can Be Offended By the Word Cis. Solutions?

Cis literally means "not transgender". If being called cisgendered offends you, look. The transgender community got saddled with being labeled, classified. Hell, same case with the rest of the LGB community. We're human. We classify our ants, we have six words to describe love. Frankly, we need an effective way to say someone's not transgender without saying someone's a "normal man" (that's condescending) or a biological male (I've seen it used but again, kind of condescending. You're implying a transgender person isn't really their gender).

Honestly? Give me a break. You're cisgender. I'm transgender. If that offends you, you need more excitement in your life.

---------- Post added 20th May 2016 at 07:22 PM ----------

Well, you know you did post in this thread so... You're clearly paying attention to such "trivial" stuff.

 

^ ^

Also, I am pretty sure that cisgender was not a word invented on Tumblr....

 

And you'd be right!

The True Meaning of the Word 'Cisgender' | Advocate.com

 

Lordy, but people need to get their shit together.

 

I'm guessing the fact cis is phonetically close to sissy doesn't help things with a few close-minded people.

 

@thepandaboss I am interested in what happens within the community, but I don't pay much attention to it as it doesn't influence my life. That's what I meant

 

We live in the world where dualities exist so if we have white we need to have black and if we have trans we need to have cis - for me it's this simple.

 

You don't have to call it a "retard tumblr word" though.

 

Why is the first thing I always think "Droids"? Roger, roger.



In all seriousness, with it being essentially a common classification I don't understand. It carries significantly less strain then the labels I'm used to. But I suppose they might not be used to words applying to them..? Eh, I dunno. Trying to wrap my brain around it.

 

I never use it, and hate the way it sounds, kinda like 'sissy'. I don't mind the classification aspect, but until a different term comes along, I don't like hearing the term, or using the term, and would rather just go about writing out the meaning the long way. It hurts my ears!

 

You are a cissy!! :tantrum:

 

A 'cis' person objecting to being called cisgender is like a straight person objecting to being called heterosexual.
The only other options are to call them either 'gobshits' or 'wankers'

:eusa_doh::eusa_doh::eusa_doh::eusa_doh:

 

People get offended by everything. Just don't call somebody something if it bothers them, just to be polite. You don't have to- you have the freedom to call somebody whatever you want, but it's not a nice way to handle day-to-day interactions AND if you harass them, they have the right to report it.

 

In all seriousness...

It's a relatively new term, derived from a dead language. Of course it's not easy on everyone.

The thing is, describing cisgender individuals "the long way" can only be done in one way that isn't offensive towards trans individuals - and that's to say "not transgender". Which can be just as awkward in conversation. It would be like announcing that you're not gay every time sexuality is pertinent to a conversation because you don't like the terms "straight" or "hetero".

"Normal" or "normal gendered" is not equivalent terminology. Neither is "biologically male/female" or "a natural born male/female". These terms suggest otherness and deception, which are usually taken in a negative way, rather than simple difference.

I do think that internet culture is a large reason so many people dislike the term, as well as its phonetic similarity to "sissy". But it's a term that's been in casual use for over 20 years, with the same root sources as many english words.

 

Lmao how someone can even bring themselves to care about that is beyond me. I don't even know what to say except that people need to get over themselves and not be so overly sensitive and dramatic.

 

I personally don't get offended because I am in the "dominant group." It's hard to be offended when you are in the power position (in a particular situation). It's the nature of social situations.

That said, whenever I think of cis/trans, I go back to OChem in college :lol:.

I think one of the biggest issues with cis/trans terminology is what how you view it. Gay/straight are dichotomies that are naturally found in nature and are not inherently harmful to either organism (though there is the obvious issue of procreation, but that's another story). Humans don't receive harm from being gay, except when being discriminated by other humans.

Trans issues have a delicate balance. You could say that discrimination arises from both the internal organism and society. It can be classified as both a "medical" condition and a "psychological" one. Trans people face discrimination from society, but also internal hate (dysphoria). Even if we were to prevent all transphobia, there would still exist dysphoria. With homosexuality, one would expect self-loathing and other internal issues to diminish greatly in the absence of societal and cultural contempt.

It also raises the fact that trans issues is also one of the only issues where self-determination is given the ability to override any other factor that we as a society and culture have given as markers of a particular trait. Hence, why the rise of the whole transanimal, transcultural tumblr-esque burlesque show.

Cis people are by default "normal" and to say otherwise would inherently undermine the goal of trans people to "pass" and transition. To say cis people are not "normal" would raise the prickly issue that trans people need not transition if they so desire and are actually harming themselves because "cis" and "trans" are just normal variations of the gender spectrum. However, out of deference to our trans siblings, we cis folk mustn't refer to ourselves as "normal" because it will cause more dysphoria to trans folk.

 

No they cant.