feddit.org

-5 points

5 months ago

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.

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samus12345@lemmy.world

6 points

5 months ago

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.

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-5 points

5 months ago

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)_/¯

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samus12345@lemmy.world

6 points

5 months ago

I said cis wasn’t a medical condition, not term. There is no need for an alternative because I see no issue with it.

I don’t think it’s possible for “cis” to become an insult, because it doesn’t describe a medical condition.

I already said it can’t be an insult. I was referring to “obese” as possible to use to be hurtful.

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-5 points

5 months ago

I said cis wasn’t a medical condition, not term

Why… why would you lie so blatantly something that can be so easily checked?

You, literally in the previous comment:

My comment was solely about using “it’s a medical term” as a defense, not about “cis.”

It is a medical term. A sometimes necessary one.

Calling someone obese isn’t hurtful because of the word, it’s hurtful because it’s a reminder to an obese person that they’re obese, which most obese people are aware is something you should strive not to be, because it’s unhealthy.

Not being transgender is hurtful to Elon or some similar minded people? (Great minds think alike, but fools rarely differ.) Having your gender be congruent with the sex you were born into is hurtful to these people?

My my, I’d have thought Elon isn’t actually that jealous that he’s not transgendered, what with all the transhate he posts.

So… in what sort of situation could it be hurtful and to whom? And if it isn’t, or can’t even be, then what are we arguing over?

There’s no alternative to “cis” in this context. It’s literally just because dumb conservatives feel xenophobia towards a simple word like “cis”. If we called people “straightgendered”, I’m sure the people who are now “offended” over “cisgender” would be waving flags saying “proud straight-o-gender” or some such bs.

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samus12345@lemmy.world

5 points

5 months ago

Let me try to untangle this.

You said:

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.

Implying that if something is a medical term, it cannot be a slur. This is patently untrue, as evidenced by the medical terms I mentioned that very much became slurs after being widely used as insults.

That’s it. I wasn’t intending to touch on “cis” in this context, just the idea that something being a medical term meant it could not be a slur. Apparently I shouldn’t have muddied the waters by talking about “cis” afterwards. I was attempting to explain why it wasn’t the same as a term like “obese.”

Cis is fine. I’ve said this three times now, so please stop acting like I’ve said otherwise.

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-5 points

5 months ago

Implying that if something is a medical term, it cannot be a slur. This is patently untrue, as evidenced by the medical terms I mentioned that very much became slurs after being widely used as insults.

First off, no, I didn’t imply that just because something is a medical term, it can’t be used as an insult. If I said I assume you’ve had a lobotomy, it’d be offensive. However… we don’t really do lobotomies anymore, do we? you mean that a lot of things that used to be medical terms are nowadays used as slurs. We also don’t call people the r-word. Of course you can insult someone by asking condescendingly if they have a learning disability, but again, that implies a disability, just like “obese” implies an unhealthy medical condition. Who and in what kind of situation would consider “cisgender” offensive?

When we are using accurate, up-to-date medical terms, they aren’t in an of themselves offensive. Most things can be made offensive through context, and it’s easy to see how mocking someone’s intelligence or implying they’ve “chosen” to be unhealthy (by having a bad diet or not exercising or something that is usually implied with fat insults), but I personally can’t see a context in which “cisgender” could be offensive to anyone. As I’ve said, perhaps it’s just my imagination. Perhaps you know some situations or contexts in which it could be offensive? I’ve asked this a few times now, and this isn’t the first time I’m asking it on Lemmy. Seems to me that the people who are saying that “cis can be used as an insult” don’t seem to be able to give an example of how.

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