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Aug 2019
2:24pm, 14 Aug 2019
22,556 posts
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fetcheveryone
[once again, whilst I've been writing this, someone else has come along and said it better. Thank you Scribbs. Wyld Stallyns!]
Speaking generally about labels, I think we're all entitled to like or dislike descriptive language when applied to us. There are plenty of cases of labels coming into and falling out of use, and taking on character and connotations as they develop. There are also examples of people and groups taking ownership of labels, repurposing them, using them as a badge of honour, etc.
Labelling is classifying, and I'd guess is part of how we build a complex model of the world around us by allowing us to quickly understand any scenario without having to return to first principles every single time. As an assumption or assertion of characteristics, labels feel like they work well when applied to deterministic stuff like objects.
But applying any kind of label to people is very tricky territory. It feels as though it leads to racism, sexism, and a whole bunch of other bad -isms. Shorthand doesn't cut it when applied to the diversity of life. And sometimes, the person being labelled does not feel comfortable with that assertion or world view. As a flippant example, I don't like being called *Lord* Fetch, because I don't like the idea that I'm in any way elevated above anyone else here. And don't get me started on peerages and hereditary rights :-/
It sounds like cisgender is an emotionally charged term for some, whilst for others it is not meant as anything more than a convenient shorthand. I totally see it as the latter, but willing to accept that others may feel undermined by it.
I don't know where I'm going with this. It isn't meant as a lecture, nor me trying to explain what may already be obvious* to anyone else reading this. It's just me trying to follow my own logic to see where it takes me. And once again, it comes back to respect for diversity, and a willingness to explore the things that make us different, and the things that make us all the same.
*I don't like 'mansplaining'. Yes I am a man. Yes, I am trying to explain something (to myself as much as anyone else) in a way that feels like some of you may say "that's obvious". I don't believe there's a causal relationship.
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Aug 2019
2:36pm, 14 Aug 2019
1,215 posts
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MsG
I really really don't like cis (or terf for that matter) and agree with Jovi's point that in some instances* it seems to be one sided respecting of individuals' request to be identified in the way they wish. It should go both ways.
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Aug 2019
2:36pm, 14 Aug 2019
1,216 posts
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MsG
*not here
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Aug 2019
2:38pm, 14 Aug 2019
7,803 posts
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GordonG
terf???
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Aug 2019
2:40pm, 14 Aug 2019
777 posts
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Trin
Gordon, I've just had to Google it... race you to the what I know that I didn't thread 😉
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Aug 2019
2:41pm, 14 Aug 2019
7,804 posts
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GordonG
lol Trin!
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Aug 2019
2:46pm, 14 Aug 2019
56,129 posts
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swittle
[I checked 'terf' after a reference to it in another thread - not a very pleasant term at all].
I O N, I looked up 'cis' and 'trans' a few months ago, and found they were Latin: respectively, 'this side of' and 'the other side of'.
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Aug 2019
2:47pm, 14 Aug 2019
7,805 posts
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GordonG
so is it not someting i should be googling while at work?
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Aug 2019
2:50pm, 14 Aug 2019
56,132 posts
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swittle
imo, it's the derogatory nature of the term that took me aback, GordonG, but that's only my personal view.
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Aug 2019
2:52pm, 14 Aug 2019
779 posts
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Trin
So I suppose it may depend on who your work colleagues are and what they might think if they saw you googling it
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Gender identity, please help change
Jun 2021
