Poll: How do you personally feel about the term cisgender?

[Dismal purple]

I like "straight" better.

But that puts gay people in a peculiar situation. Sentences like "I think straight people have problems understanding trans issues" would imply that gay people have special insight into the subject and they are our bros and part of our secret club. Or worse, it would imply that straight people are ignorant of trans issues because they are straight.

 

[JoJo]

I like "straight" better.

The thing is, the two words don't have exactly the same meaning. Transgender people can be straight, if they only like the opposite gender, and cisgender people can be gay, lesbian or bi.

OT: I don't mind it, every subculture and group has their own terms, in the autistic community we often refer to non-autistic people as 'neurotypical' for example. I wouldn't expect to see cisgender much outside of discussion about transgender issues but that's fine, it has it's place where it's useful.

 

[Fappy]

I am fine with the word, but agree that it often times used in situations where it's unnecessary. This is usually the case in discussions about privilege, and when the topic doesn't specifically involve gender identity I think it's silly to tack "cis" onto the long list of adjectives that describe privilege. White, straight male is concise enough. There are plenty of other disenfranchised groups usually not used in these lists that have just as many disadvantages in life as trans people do, and in some cases there are more of them. Dwarves, people with mental/emotional illnesses, poor people, deformed/disfigured people (burn victims, amputees, etc.), handicapped people... the list goes on.

I'd rather cis be used when the situation calls for it, not for use in an arbitrary list of privilege perquisites.

 

[Superbeast]

It's a pretty good term.

I was using "cis" for years before it was applied to gender theory, having had an education in chemistry and classics. Given that trans* is in use, then cis* just makes sense as the "opposite". In my mind, it is no more offensive than heterosexual - a word that has become quite important in our parlance for dealing with human relationships.

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

In my experience those who are CIS don't have genders...

Spoiler: Roger, roger...

 

[Cryselle]

Bluntly, people are comfortable with using labels to describe other people, and are uncomfortable with labels that other people use to describe them. I'm always too complex to sum up in one word, but those other people, one word can define their entire existence.

It's not that labels can't be a useful tool for describing the world. We don't actually have a lot of other tools to begin with, so they're one of our primary methods. People just need to take a lot more care to avoid jumping from label to conclusion when dealing with something as inherently complex as a person.

 

[Darks63]

I don't like it it seems like its another rather clinical label that has been subverted to attack people. I put it up there with privilege as words I wish I didn't know the meaning of or internet use if you will since they now just piss me off to different degrees.

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

It's good, it's a word that fulfils a needed purpose. Also I imagine TERFs don't like it so it's nice being able to piss them off as a little side benefit. Can people use it to insult others? I guess but people can use "gay" to insult people, doesn't mean nobody says gay. Also it's definitely the sort of stuff that should be thought to be people, especially in schools. I would have preferred to have learnt that things about gender and sexuality that I know now earlier in life.

It's always fun (actually more annoying than fun) when people say things like "you can't just make up words," how do you think words come into being? Also according to Wikipedia the term has been around for 20 years.

 

[vledleR]

I've never found myself in a situation that I've had to use it IRL. All the people I've met call me a man, dude, guy etc. All the forms I've filled I tick "male"; that's the way I was born, and I'm cool with it. Should I be offended?

 

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

I've never found myself in a situation that I've had to use it IRL. All the people I've met call me a man, dude, guy etc. All the forms I've filled I tick "male"; that's the way I was born, and I'm cool with it. Should I be offended?

Nope, just like how I wouldn't be offened if you said that because my gender identity does not matching my birth sex means that I'm transgender. Now if I called you "cishet scum" in a serious manner, that you should offend you, because that's using cisgender and heterosexual in the form of an insult. Then again I once heard a trans person use "cishet scum" unironically against a person and even I was offended by that. Seriously I wanted to smack that woman for saying that.

 

[Darks63]

I said it in another thread, it's equivelant to the word goy in hebrew, it's an okay term inside the group, outside the group in can seem like an insult to others.

I don't like it it seems like its another rather clinical label that has been subverted to attack people. I put it up there with privilege as words I wish I didn't know the meaning of or internet use if you will since they now just piss me off to different degrees.

Have you actually encountered this OFFline?

Privilege, yes went I was going to college. Cis, not yet but give it time before it spills into offline venacular.

 

[FirstNameLastName]

I really don't understand why it bothers people so much. Even if you consider it unnecessary, why should that matter? If it's unnecessary then you are unlikely to be finding yourself in any situations where the word is required. If you are finding yourself in situations where the word is required, then it seems there is a certain necessity to it.

I think initially I took minor umbrage with the word, but thinking back on it, I can't remember why. Outside of the whole "die cis scum" meme there really isn't any insult to it.

Seems like a perfectly legitimate term.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

Honestly, I think it's difficult for the lay person to parse what it means.

'Cis' as a prefix doesn't appear in any other word that I can readily command, so being told you're cisgendered without even knowing what that means can be off-putting for some.

Further, it kind of *sounds* like an insult. Not saying that's a good argument, but even if you explain it to someone in context; it sounds unnecessarily redundant if there's nothing else to its face value (i.e.: the gender you're born with is the gender you identify as).

Honestly, calling 'cisgendered' something like 'default gender' might just be a little more clear (and come off as less snobbish).

I'm rather on this end of things myself, I find. I've never heard it be used in my entire life until the whole Tumlbr thing taking hold of it and using it against "white privileged males cause 'oppression'" or something of the sort. I don't mind it as a term. I do, however, mind when it's used in a manner to insult anyone that essentially isn't whatever the current Tumblr user is.

Kyuubi, I didn't read all posts in your past threads, but I don't think I'd call it "De-railed" anyways, mostly cause of what one user here said. It probably didn't have a good discussion outlet. It also probably didn't help a lot of people probably didn't understand the term. Then you get some who simply just got pissy at others. But, then again, maybe I missed a lot more than I thought.

This topic is a little tricky. The world is only recently getting the hang of accepting gay people and not throwing them to the wolves, much like how it used to be. Transgender related stuff is simply going through the same sort of phases. You'll be seeing this sort of thing for awhile. But, seeing how nicely the world is progressing with some of this stuff, it shouldn't be too long until things calm down some. Now, if only Tumblr would stop existing... That'd help

 

[Tsun Tzu]

I went for "unnecessary" as I felt it to be a bit...well, unnecessary, given that 99.8% of people are that way and I didn't necessarily believe it to be a negative or positive term.

But, after taking more than ten seconds to actually parse my feelings on the matter, I'd like to informally change it to a mix between "I think it's a pretty good term" and "I think it's become insulting."

"I think it's a pretty good term," because of the obvious; it provides a means of distinguishing trans folks from their 'opposite.'

"I think it's become insulting," because that's, almost literally, the only way I've ever actually seen the word used. It's almost always thrown in with "white" and "male" as a semi-pejorative.

Essentially, it's all about the context. Ya know. Like with all other words.

 

[Bat Vader]

I think it's literal gibberish. it's pretty much only in usage in science (chemistry and biology) so expecting anyone not a tumblrite to know what the crap is meant by it is hilarious nonsense.

You're probably right, but isn't it sad that our educational system is so shot, that people don't even learn or retain the most basic biology or chemistry?

Beyond that, I've always come at it from Dalek Caan's point of view. What possible harm is there in giving people the benefit of the doubt on this?

It's the same as indulging any other bizarre sub identification like incel or MRA or PUA, they all spout bollocks about other people and they all deserve to be roundly ignored.

I guess all we are missing now is the NRA, PLA, and GLA. Jokes aside I have heard of MRA. Never heard of Incel or PUA before.

In my experience those who are CIS don't have genders...

Spoiler: Roger, roger...

Great, I was saving that joke for a thread like this and you go ahead and use it. Thanks man, thanks a lot. I'm not really angry.