Saelune said:
KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime said:
Elfgore said:
KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime said:
First off, the term "transgenders" has become derogatory... At best it's used by people who are totally ignorant to trans people, the kind of people who generally don't even understand that trans men exist... Though mostly it's like "the gays" anymore, it's used generally as a dismissive, or fear inducing generalization...
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Are you being serious with this? This is an actual question, not disbelief in what you said.... Though it will become it if you say yes.
I am indeed serious, when ever you hear the word "transgenders" it tends to be in vein of: "Those transgenders should be put in mental hospitals/in prison/to death." Mostly because it's used to invoke the mental imagery of a poorly passing trans woman, or particularly ugly drag queen. or crossdressing male. Not to mention it's also bad grammar and just sounds awful by it self anyways.
This is the kind of stuff that fuels "those damn SJW!s" and doesn't create understanding and acceptance. It doesn't matter what word they use, what matters is the intention of the words. Being offended by every single word wont help you. Anyone who actually hates a group isn't going to care if said group is offended, and this just alienates those who may be ignorant but not hateful. It creates this awkward minefield feeling that I think divides more than anything. You say those anythings and its offensive cause of the intent, not the word. Jew isn't offensive on its own, since a Jewish person is...a Jew. Its only offensive when you go "those Jews" cause it clearly implies hate, even without using a blatant slur. Maybe when everything else is fine and dandy we can worry about the words, but there are far more important issues, ya know, like not worrying about wanting to use a bathroom.
Gently correcting someone for using wording that has become harmful to a group is not what fuels cries of "rhose damn SJWs!", nor does it harm understanding, tolerance, or acceptance. Mostly because what triggers those responses are being overly harsh to people for making an honest mistake, which isn't what I did. I calmly and politely informed the OP that the word is considered to be negative by the trans community, as in I didn't jump down OPs throat, while calling them a "transphobe"... Which is kind of what you're implying is what I did. You have the fact that this isn't a case of "being offended at every single word" either, as this word is used almost exclusively by anti-trans groups, as part of their anti-trans rhetoric.
Comparing it to the term "Jew" quite a case of apples and oranges, because the Jewish community by and large is okay with referring to Jewish people as a group with the term "Jews". Then again they've had a far more successful time rehabilitating the word's meaning from slur, to fairly neutral descriptor, partially because antisemitism is even more socially unacceptable than typical racism. Then again antisemitism was used to trash the Hollywood reputations of anti-communist film makers, writers, directors, actors, producers, and such. Considering how many Jewish people had powerful positions in the film industry, especially combined with the lead up to World War II... Then the public exposure of the holocaust against Jewish people in Nazi controlled areas. On the other hand most of the transgender community doesn't like the term "transgenders" because it's most common usage, by anti-trans parties, as a vehement slur against trans people. It's also a generalization of trans people that tends to ignore trans men in the minds of most cis people not connected to the trans community.
Also thank you for bringing up the current political battle over trans people and bathrooms, in a thread that had nothing to do with it. Aside from the fact that it's invoking the "starving children in Africa" trope, in which one points to a large issue to invalidate an point someone elise was trying to make. What also hurts that argument, is that people who arguing most openly against allowing trans people into the correct restrooms, precisely because we're trans, are amongst those who use "transgenders" as a venomous slur. It's part of the opposition's dialectic, used specifically to generalize trans women as mentally ill perverts, while dehumanizing us at the same time. Part of demanding equality is putting down language which has become a weapon against a marginalized group. Now because it's become part of the transphobic dialectic, "transgenders" is no longer a neutral, or harmless term to the trans community, and many of us object to it's use for many reasons. Though most importantly, it's now mostly used to paint all trans people as mentally ill perverted men in bad drag, looking to victimize women and little girls... That's the sort of negative connotations terms adopt as they become slurs.
EDIT!: I'd like to clarify for everyone's benefit that it's the word "transgenders" when used as a plural for all transgender people that's become an issue. "Transgender" as a word hasn't picked up as much of the negative image, because it's been the correct term in the community for so long. "Transgenders" that's the one that has an "s" at the end has become an issue, because it's mostly(but not always), used with a dismissive and derisive tone of voice. It's not a term that I've ever seen used by trans folk, or heavily involved allies either. As far as I can tell the people who coined "transgenders" did so to as to avoid using "transgender people", so they could distance the wording from the fact that trans folk are actually people.
I simply asked if you find trans people attractive. That once you know that are trans, do you have a sexual attraction to them.
