Banning the term "cis"

The term 'cis' inspires gales of laughter in our house. DS and I think it's hilarious. We usually discuss the cats eg 'Do you think Fluffy identifies as a cis cat' etc.

MaryZ I'm also furious that trans women can compete in the Olympics. It's a disgrace. As for Caitlyn Jenner and her bravery...

The Time mag article puts this MN thread in context and the majority of negative reactions here are in line with other women's refusal to be renamed .

MyLove, everyday feminism is a good place to start...

everydayfeminism.com/2016/02/130-examples-cis-privilege/
everydayfeminism.com/2015/01/being-called-cis-is-not-oppressive/
everydayfeminism.com/2015/12/they-pronouns-cis-privilege/
everydayfeminism.com/2015/11/common-examples-cissexism/

...then I bring you buzz feed...

www.buzzfeed.com/meredithtalusan/cissexist-bullshit-translator?utm_term=.te7ZEDOZ6#.lhNEK6GEA
www.buzzfeed.com/christopherguerrero/if-trans-people-said-the-stuff-cisgender-people-say?utm_term=.jlJ04bm0n#.ywl8M7G8Q

...upworthy...

www.upworthy.com/when-she-turned-the-tables-on-this-reporter-it-got-hella-awkward-and-proved-a-serious-point
www.upworthy.com/president-obama-stood-up-for-trans-students-in-a-huge-way-heres-what-you-need-to-know

...time magazine...

time.com/3636430/cisgender-definition/

...the Oxford fucking dictionary... (!)

www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/cisgender

It's everywhere.

Some people are really twisting and turning to keep this cis label applied to women who are overwhelmongly rejecting it. CAll yourself whatever you like and leave the rest of us alone.

I have genuinely only seen cis on MN and that's when people are objecting to it, not using it. I'd never heard of it until I saw it here. I agree it's an unnecessary term and I respect people find it offensive but I don't think it's being used in a widespread way?

Admittedly I don't frequent trans forums but I'm educated, and like to think I'm fairly up to date with lots of issues (though I may be wrong!). I work with Psychiatrists, Psychologists and Nurses (and am one of them) When I mentioned the term the other day, only one other person knew what I meant.

We work with a small number of trans people - none of whom have ever used the word in our interactions with them and as I don't think any of them are 'trans activists' but just trans people getting on with their lives, I wouldn't be surprised if some of them wouldn't know what it meant either.

Is it creeping into being used outside of trans-activism? Because I haven't seen it but would really like to educate myself around the issue.

Seek - you forgot those cisblack folk should acknowledge and check their cisblack privilege. Those transblack folk are much more oppressed.

Yy errol. I am happy referring to myself as cis sexual (though are we then into homo/hetero territory? Obviously not interpreted the same, but meaning literally the same!!)

Perhaps any time anyone gets called cis they should agree that they are cis-sexual. Do you think that would have more or less impact on the genderists than arguing?

I might be ok with cis if it meant 'cis-sexual' since I am still the same sex as I was at conception, and biological sex is a real (nearly) binary thing.

potato - but we're all different. None of us conforms 100% to gender stereotypes. By and large its the transgender activists who are into labelling - most of us just want to be individual women.

Suppose Rachel Dolezal were to be known as a 'transblack'. And then black people had to use 'cis black', to indicate that they are born black rather than feeling black, and they're happy with the expectations applied to blacks, happy to live as blacks, happy with the kind of race characteristics which obviously apply to them. So that the transblacks don't have to feel 'different', because they've always known that they like black-people things (though they tend not to get stop-and-searched quite as often), the cisblacks must accept their new name, and the changes in statistics that ensue - guess what, black people are now far less discriminated against than we thought! Aren't you happy, cisblacks?

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarggghhh.
(at potato)

But we are the normal default setting.

the equivalent to 'heterosexual' or 'white' you are looking for here is 'woman'.

I totally disagree.

'Cis' is a useful and needed word, like 'heterosexual' or 'white'. If we only label people who are different, while regarding ourselves as the 'normal, default' setting, that increases hostility towards anyone different.

Maybe a SPERF (sometimes penis exclusionary rad fem), as I quite like them usually

I googled and my top hits confirmed it was a linux profiling tool, so I like that too.... No?

Penis-exclusionary radical feminist. As distinct frm TERF.

Please don't call me cis.

Ever

No one group should be entitled to label another group, that's the essence of it for me.

Trans people as a rule take gender performance very very seriously in ways that relate only casually to the realities of being biologically female. Here in Ireland we CANNOT seem, no matter how hard we try, to get our very seriously anti-feminist abortion laws on the political agenda, despite these having resulted in the deaths of pregnant women due to them being denied treatment for life threatening conditions by virtue of having wombs. And the trans posts and campaigning I see on this? It is apparently offensive to say "her body, her choice" and we should be saying "their body, their choice". Fuck that. Irish feminists have been campaigning on this for most of my life... And though women can't even be sure they can withold consent for medical procedures in labour, the most pressing issue now is pronouns? These people are not allies of women.

And yes I was born with a womb and ovaries and a vagina but if you dare to tell me that's fucking privilege when my life is legally considered public property if I am pregnant, you can seriously swing for it. I am not CIS and I absolutely reject this dangerously antifeminist labelling.

I like PERF too.

I like PERF myself

Although, we shouldn't even need the word feminist.

I'll take TERF. I'm a radical feminist. I want to exclude transwomen (and, in some circumstances, transmen) from areas of female life which are linked to biological sex. That encompasses a fair bit of feminist activity, as well as other things affecting women regardless of their politics.

There's no truth in cis, so I won't take it.