Listen, everyone. It’s so simple. We just need a neutral word to describe people who are not trans. Okay, the prefix “trans” is Latin for across, so the Latin word for not across is… you’re not going to believe this.
ok ok maybe that’s not familiar enough as a prefix so it gets a reaction. we could find a familiar prefix to note that your gender is the same as what you were assigned at birth…
from now on the opposite of transgender is… homogender!
So It’s hard to get into the headspace where I could get offended by being called cis but I’ll try. Here is a metaphor that hopefully won’t be too offensive.
Imagine if vegetarians started identifying non-vegetarians en masse with the label “Omnivores”. The first critique would likely be, “But it’s normal for humans to be omnivores; It’s the neutral state!”. That’s how most people, including many allies, feel about being cis. It’s the neutral state to them and doesn’t/shouldn’t require a label.
Obviously context matters but I can see how inflection could make it sound like a slight if someone is already loaded with insecurities.
well the whole point is to make all of it “normal”. it’s normal for humans to be cis, yes, and so is to be trans. so instead of calling people “trans” and “normal”, you call them “trans” and “cis”.
and make no mistake, that’s why people oppose the term “cis”. they want to other trans people, and normalizing the term threatens the system of oppression.
Imagine if vegetarians started identifying non-vegetarians en masse with the label “Omnivores”. The first critique would likely be, “But it’s normal for humans to be omnivores; It’s the neutral state!”
I don’t see the problem. Non-vegatarians/vegans are already called omnivores and it doesn’t seem to be a problem. I wouldn’t expect them to go out of their way to label themselves as such unless they were saying something like “I’m an omniVore” as a Vore joke. Carnists is the term that’s used to be derogatory (although I think some weirdos who like to define themselves in opposition to vegans do call themselves that?). Likewise, “cissies” is a derogatory way to refer to the cis, but “cis” is just the neutral word used describe them. I wouldn’t expect people to go out of their way to proclaim their cisness, but getting upset that the term exists and people use it is mostly just a bit.
We spend immense effort getting the world to listen and allow us to be identified by how We wish to be identified. To flip the script and say we get to determine how others are identified unapologetically does not parse.
I’ll gladly call non-vegans, who vehemently defend eating meat and oppose anything remotely vegan, carnies to piss them off
As a lifetime vegetarian, please utilize that energy in a more useful way. Your cohort makes my life difficult.