a question. well, several.

If anyone knows the answer to this (who might read this blog, ha), please comment.

I read a (very, very angry) entry from a trans issues blog recently that was a call-out (flinch, will examine that later) of another blog entry. So far as I could tell, the anger was due to the fact that the terms "cisgender" and "cissexual" were conflated into the term "cis" in such a way that ignored cisgender, transsexual men and transgender, cissexual men.* (I think. I'm still a little confused.)

So: Can "cis" be used inoffensively as a shorthand for "cissexual and cisgender," for persons such as myself for whom both of those things are true? It seems like "trans" sometimes is (i.e. used as shorthand for "transsexual and transgender") but then, it also seems the usage of those two words is not standardized.


* According to another website that I found, a cisgender, transsexual man would be one whose gender presentation was feminine but physical attributes were changed to be masculine and a transgender, cissexual man would one whose gender presentation was masculine, but physical attributes remained feminine. Wow, I'm really not sure if I managed worded that in a non-ignorant (/unoffensive) way or not. . . how does one refer to changing physical attributes that are typically classed with one gender without implying that the person that possesses said attributes is that gender? But it also seems like (based on the descriptions I found) that there are some trans persons who do identify with their assigned gender, but do not feel comfortable with their bodies as-is. Errrgh. I suspect this is why people screw up on trans issues so often; there are so many axes to slide up and down and trip on.

unnnnnnnnnh [hate and privilege]

Just stumbled onto a bunch of radical feminist trans-hating blogs. . . unnnnnnnh. Mental pain.

Note on one blog which I'm not linking to because I was not impressed:

I'm pretty damn sure there *is* such a think as cisgender privilege, regardless if one is born a man or a woman (male or female, whichever term is correct.) While I, as a woman living the U.S. (most of the time), may be discouraged, harassed, and subjected to violence, relatively few people are going to take in upon themselves to erase me from existence through violence, which does happen to trans people. Note that "trans panic" is a defense accepted occasionally in courts for murder, whereas there is no "woman panic" corollary.

Now, I'm up for debate on what "cisgendered privilege" actually means. Another blog (from the opposite view, obviously) made the argument that a cis woman who tells a trans woman "You're so lucky to not have a period," is exercising cisgender privilege. As for many women, this statement translates to, "You're so lucky to not have monthly depression and intense pain," I would say that calling this "privilege" is bullshit.

[Maybe the wording is, in fact, problematic, because it could also simply be taken to mean, "You're lucky to have not been born a woman," and therefore, "WhyTF are you trying to be a woman now." But. . . in my experience, most women do not hate men for not having the "period experience." More frequently they hate their own bodies for betraying them. So, to people suffering from different struggles: Try to be compassionate.