It’s as much a descriptor as “obese”. Some people are calling for that to be slur, but it’s not, it’s a medical term.
You know what else were medical terms? Dumb. Cretin. Moron. Idiot. Retarded. Not saying “obese” is on that level yet, just that originating as a medical term doesn’t remove usage of that term from any criticism. If it’s consistently used as an insult rather than a neutral descriptor…it becomes an insult.
Just how does one use it as an insult?
Yeah, medicine evolves and realises the old shit they were doing was wrong and then it adapts. Like how we know sex is different from gender, and someone for whom those aligns is known as “cis-gendered”.
I have dozens of alternatives which are politically correct and reflect better the conditions which those terms used to be used for.
What alternative would you suggest for “cis-gendered”?
And also, does your answer imply that because some people consider “obese” to be offensive that we should avoid it and use something like “above the thing that’s above ‘normal’ in the BMI-scale”, because that’s a mouthful compared to “obese” and I’d feel silly hearing it out of a doctor’s mouth.
How does one use “cis” or “obese” as an insult? My comment was solely about using “it’s a medical term” as a defense, not about “cis.” I don’t think it’s possible for “cis” to become an insult, because it doesn’t describe a medical condition. People can whine that it’s an insult, but it never will be. “Obese,” however, is a medical condition, just like the other words I mentioned. It can absolutely be an insult if the intent is to hurt the person you’re saying it to. It’s all about intent. Do I consider it an insult akin to the other words mentioned? No, I haven’t seen it used that way enough.
It definitely is a medical term.
Ofc it’s not something you’d write for everyone in all contexts, because cis is literally assumed, but for a psychiatrist or a psychologist dealing with trans patients, yes, they’d definitely use the term when needed.
What alternative do you suggest for cisgender, if you need to use the concept?
Cisgender
Adjective
A term to describe a person whose gender identity aligns with those associated with the sex assigned to them at birth (i.e., a person who is not transgender).
The prefix “cis-” comes from the Latin meaning “on this side,” as opposed to “trans-” which means “on the other side of” or “beyond.”
It’s been used for various things for a long time.
It’s not all about intent. Intent matters, sure, but even with bad intent, please describe a scenario in which someone uses “cis” as an offensive insult? Perhaps I just lack in imagination. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯