The use of "CIS" or "cisgender"
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Maybe it is just me, but I find this made up word to just be silly. No offense to the transgender community, but the trans community are the ones who decided they wanted to be called "Trans". Gay groups decided to be called "Gay". Other groups used to call them other, mostly derogatory, names and they decided for themselves how to be referenced.
I don't know of any CIS community and can't remember it's members ever being asked about, or deciding on, being called that. Can anyone think of one other common term that Cis is used as a prefix for? I'm sure there may be some obscure words out there, but most people have never heard this term so the use of CIS as a prefix is meaningless.
How is arbitrarily labeling people cis or cisgender any different than a straight guy calling someone a fag? Or white people calling a black person the 'N' word? One group has no business labeling another.
I'm sorry if I offend the PC police, but I am NOT a "cisgender" male, I am perfectly fine as just a human male thank you very much.
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You certainly haven't offended me.
I find 'cisgender' such an attempt at constructing a word that I'm not sure was needed.
You want to see some convoluted reasoning? Try this
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You certainly haven't offended me.
I find 'cisgender' such an attempt at constructing a word that I'm not sure was needed.
You want to see some convoluted reasoning? Try this
That had some interesting commentary, but I think one sentence summed it up for me: "Self labeling is welcome but to apply this label to others is slurring and slandering."
Not sure I'd got as far as slandering, but anytime one group takes it upon themselves to label another is inevitably asking for trouble in it's usage.
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As someone with a background in both latin and chemistry the term "cisgender" makes perfect sense to me, but I guess I am the minority… ::)
Yes, cisgender is a made up word, but in a way so are all others. Here in Italy earlier this year there has been a ridicolously huge media storm about a school teacher who sent a letter to the Country's linguistic academy inquiring about a word one of her pupils made up (for the curious, the word is "petaloso", or petalous); the response was basically that if a new word is embraced and recognised as useful by a sufficiently large group of people, it's faith is to be eventually officialized. After the teacher posted this response on facebook it quickly became viral and thousands of people (including our PM) started using the word in order to show "support" to the child who made it up. Even if this was just a fad and after a while people lost interest (black and blue, anybody? ::) ), it serves well as an example on how the internet makes it easier for buzzwords to gain spread and popularity to the point where there's no point in denying their legitimacy.
As for the use of "cisgender" as an insult, I'd say that the term in itself is a descriptive and perfectly neutral term just like "transgender". I've seen posts of social justice warriors using it as an insult but to me it makes no more sense than calling a white person "caucasic" and expecting a reaction out of him.
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Just because something is on the internet doesn't make it legitimate.
And I don't like the word.
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One group has no business labeling another.
Labeling just makes things easier. How comfortable would you feel being treated in a hospital where all the medications weren't labeled?
Your answer to that might be "Well that's different. It's a hospital, and where the labels are used makes a difference."
If you agree with that, continue reading below.
How is arbitrarily labeling people cis or cisgender any different than a straight guy calling someone a fag? Or white people calling a black person the 'N' word?
If you agreed with the hospital scenario, then where the labels are used makes a difference.
When you're being called cis, it isn't being yelled at you from across the street, or spray painted on the side of your house or car. You're being labeled cis primarily in academic journals by social scientists, and by the media—using the journals own terminology.
So with that in mind, do you still agree that where the labels are used makes a difference?
;D
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You're being labeled cis primarily in academic journals by social scientists, and by the media—using the journals own terminology.
Actually, here it seems to be used mostly by hard-left students and activists, often with the implication that it is somehow inferior.
And I still don't like it as a word.
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mostly by hard-left students
Fortunately for you spring semester is over, so we shouldn't be bothering you for the next 3 months—provided the undergrads don't spend the time inventing new words to terrorize you with.
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Who said 'terrorise' [sic]? Our spring 'term' [sic] is not over yet.
And our student unions locally are voting whether to disaffiliate from the NUS, often in response to the new NUS president's election. Or voting to create LGBT ghettos in the halls of residence.
At least these days they are (mostly) using their own money to not get an education
And I can cope with neologisms, just not ugly ones
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Just because something is on the internet doesn't make it legitimate.
The fact that it's use is widespread and recognised is actually what is making it legitimate; whether we like it or not "the internet" is not apart from "real life", but if this was a just a topic about linguistics, then it wouldn't spark this much discussion
I think it's pointless to make out a word as "bad" when in fact only the intentions behind it are bad. In my eyes cisgender is a useful and descriptive word that comes in handy when discussing gender-related issues; of course it's a limitative label to describe an individual as a whole, but as Mrker1234 pointed out, sometimes labeling is necessary (and inevitable).
I see this issue as an opposite of what happened with the term "queer", that started as an insult and eventually was reclaimed as descriptive: the fact that the use of "cisgender" is still debated shows that it isn't well established yet and that it could go either way, depending on what use will prevail.
Personally I don't feel like we need another way to discriminate on sexuality, so I'm hoping people will realise that calling someone "cis scum" is just pointless riling. -
Perhaps I'm lucky. I don't discuss "gender-related issues" so I have no need for "a useful and descriptive [yet ugly] word"
I may be wrong but my memory says that 'queer' didn't start as an insult. Check out Ruth Wallis And calling anyone any kind of 'scum' doesn't seem friendly or helpful.
And if you really want to read some psycho-babble about Queerness (their word) try this - the author actually had pieces printed in a national newspaper. The paper is no longer…
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Cis is neither a made up word or a word that is new or "invented on the internet"
those of us the work in psychology and psychiatrics use the term neutrally and have done for a while now.its a Latin-derived prefix cis-, meaning "on this side of", which is an antonym for the Latin-"trans"-, meaning "on the other side of". so when Cisgender is mentioned it means on this side of the gender
transgender means on the other side ofto quote Rawson on its usage.
"It’s an incredible and invisible power to not need to name yourself because the norms have already done that for you. You don’t need to come out as heterosexual or cisgender because it is already expected. Since it isn’t a derogatory term, those who take exception to it may be uncomfortable with trans issues or perhaps they are unwilling to confront their own privilege."
Cis-gender is not a slur it just means you identify with the gender and or sex you were born with.
those that see it in the same light as Breeder or faggot equally horrid terms ,are delusional or intellectually naive, as are those socialist wannabe's that use the term in that fashion. -
Cis and cisgender are made up words, as are all words. cisgender dates from the 1990s. Vintage in porn terms, new in dictionary terms.
And I still think it is an ugly word, not in its meaning but just as a word. And a word I have never used. Except in this thread of course
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Regardless of its origin, the term cis is used by the trans community, in particular non-binary and gender fluid member it seems, to attack and shoot-down debate with non-trans (i.e. cis) people. The term is used to suggest that because the individual is cis, he/she is privilaged in that they are in the majority and experience little oppression because of their gender. It is a term simply used to dismiss others and cause them to feel bad about their privilage in this new game of oppression-olympics that seems to have taken over the internet and universities. The term is used against gay men and women and other minorities who identify with their assigned-gender to suggest that they are stil privilaged in spite of their status as a minority and thus their opinions are those on non-trans, privilaged people and so should hold no merit - it is quite a sad term and is used more politically than just as a simple means of catagorization.
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Well, there has to be a word for everything and I'm very happy that I have one more now. I was really missing the word sooo often.
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Cisgenders don't need a 'community' because they are the norm. There is no real discrimination against cicgenders (if you believe a transgender person is discriminating you… well... maybe there are really some trans people who do that... but c'mon... the life of cisgender people is in anyway affected by any kind of discrimination on that regard). It would be the same thing as to say straight people need protections and need to form a community. They don't... majority and provilledged groups don't need that. That's not just
PC Cultureit's sheer reality and logic. -
It's a stupid term. I prefer the term normal.
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I too think it's a silly term but when I say that I usually get shouted down
It strikes me as a made-up word (yes, I know they all are) waiting for a quack to use
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I feel it is also a silly term but it seems okay to me if it is being used in a medical sense and less in the way of, "You don't understand the STRUGGLE you white cis male bigot!" It just seems quite childish when used this way and seems to be used to shut down arguments.
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most people on here seem to hate it because they associate with a certain type of person in their mind who uses this word rather than the word itself.
Cisgender, transgender, words to increase our understanding of the world, I like it
