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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Would MNHQ consider extending the definition of "misgendering"

229 replies

HermioneWeasley · 02/06/2015 20:30

Hi

I wondered what MNHQ and MNetters thought about extending misgendering to include referring to people as "cis"? There are many of us who find it offensive and reject it. Given that whenever it is used, there always at least one poster asking what it means, it seems unhelpful at best and offensive at worst.

OP posts:
StickEm · 02/06/2015 20:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PolterGoose · 02/06/2015 21:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AlistairSim · 02/06/2015 21:03

Yes, please.
I hate it.

RabbitIssue · 02/06/2015 21:05

Yes pls is horrible term

hopelesslydevotedtoGu · 02/06/2015 21:06

What does misgendering mean?

TheCowThatLaughs · 02/06/2015 21:08

Yes please!

ChuffinAda · 02/06/2015 21:13

Yes please! It's a horrible term

LagerthaEarlIngstad · 02/06/2015 21:14

Yes, I agree.

Bair · 02/06/2015 21:15

Yes please.

Chipsahoythere · 02/06/2015 21:15

I agree. I am not a cis woman. I am a woman.

HermioneWeasley · 02/06/2015 21:15

hopelessly as I understand it, it means referring to someone as their biological sex rather than the gender they "identify" with. So calling Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner a man because he has a male body with functional penis is misgendering.

OP posts:
CatsCantTwerk · 02/06/2015 21:16

Can I ask what Cis is please?

Rudawakening · 02/06/2015 21:18

Yep, I'm a woman, not a 'cis' woman.

Why should we have to put up with an offensive term when others don't.

CatsCantTwerk · 02/06/2015 21:21

I just re read the op there always at least one poster asking what it means

I didn't mean to offend by asking what it meant, really sorry.

HermioneWeasley · 02/06/2015 21:21

Ah cats (fab name BTW - made me laugh) you have illustrated my point beautifully. It is apparentky a term borrowed from Latin/molecular chemistry which means opposite of trans (like trans fats and cis fats) .

Because trans activists want the word "woman" to include anyone who feels like a woman (including people who look, dress and act like men and have male bodies) you have to have a term to describe adult human females (incidentally the dictionary definition of "woman"). Apparently the terms "born" woman or "biological" woman are not acceptable.

OP posts:
HermioneWeasley · 02/06/2015 21:23

cats cross posted! No need to apologise - it is exact my point! It's an incredibly niche term that 99% of people haven't come across so at best it is incredibly unhelpful when we have nice, clear words that everyone understand and most reasonable people do not find offensive.

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TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 02/06/2015 21:23

Sorry , I can't agree . I also hate it and think the current situation is very uneven but I don't think increasing the censorship is the way to go . I would prefer MNHQ to reconsider the gaslighty prohibition on defining sex by biology rather than gender identity. People have different ideas as to what makes a woman - I think it is all wrong for one view to be banned.

HermioneWeasley · 02/06/2015 21:24

thecountess I would be incredibly happy to be able to say that men are not women without it being classified as misgendering or hate speech.

OP posts:
ChuffinAda · 02/06/2015 21:25

But a lot of women find the term cis to be derogatory and offensive.

If that's allowed can we call trans people 'he-she's' etc? Not that I would but to me cis is as nasty a term as any you can sling towards the trans community.

NinaSharp · 02/06/2015 21:25

I've been reading the other threads this evening and had to go off and read about what cis stands for.

I'm not entirely sure I like the term, not as something to be used all the time i.e. most women and men basically now being called ciswoman and cismen.

Having said that, I do think differentiating between female/woman and male/man can be quite useful, as sex and gender are different things.

msrisotto · 02/06/2015 21:26

If mis gendering is a big deal, then being called cis woman when you find that term offensive should be banned.

Or mis gendering isn't that big of a deal and we forget banning it altogether.

I don't think we should be banning vocabulary.

Babypythagorus · 02/06/2015 21:34

Why on earth is cis offensive? Genuinely asking...

I can see why being called a man when you are a woman might be, or why someone denying your gender might be, but someone adding a word to clarify - how is that offensive?

And since when was people not knowing what a word means a good reason to ban it?!

RufusTheReindeer · 02/06/2015 21:37

I find the term"cis" offensive

I've been looking at a lot of blogs and websites recently and it's very often used as an insult or as part of a threat as in "die cis scum"

I don't understand why it's needed the word 'woman' has been fine for centuries

DarrellRiversGlintingEye · 02/06/2015 21:39

But 'cis' isn't just a clarifying word - it means that the person described is happy with their 'assigned' gender; so if it's a woman, they presumably buy into all the ridiculous notions that tend to go hand in hand with being a woman. It also presumes that you have a gender identity in the first place, for your body to be 'cis' with.

BathtimeFunkster · 02/06/2015 21:39

but someone adding a word to clarify - how is that offensive?

It's offensive because I don't accept "cis" as a clarification of the fact that I am a woman. It doesn't need any clarification.