Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Feminism: chat

Original poster

Could we reclaim "cis"?

135 replies

rocketpocket · 01/08/2018 15:52

I am mainly just thinking out loud here and happy to be told to stop being ridiculous.

I know a lot of the women on here are deeply unhappy with the cis label but I was wondering if it's something we could actually work with.

Cis basically just means a person that identifies as the sex/gender that they were assigned at birth, right?

Wouldn't it be better if we reclaimed the label and had ciswomen only shortlists or ciswomen only refuges or ciswomen only sporting categories?

Perhaps transwomen can be women but they can never be ciswomen.

I think I understand the anger at the definition of "woman" being changed and all the rest. I suppose this is an "if you can't beat them, join them" solution. Is it terrible?

OP posts:
Petalflowers · 01/08/2018 16:08

If we’re going to be called ciswomen, are men going to be known as cismen ? Only seems fair.

MarshaBradyo · 01/08/2018 16:07

No can’t reclaim
Yes terrible

JackyHolyoake · 01/08/2018 16:05

rocketpocket

Think of all the words that include 'trans' :

www.thefreedictionary.com/words-that-start-with-trans

Is the antonym of these words 'cis... ' ?

puppiesnotpatriarchy · 01/08/2018 16:04

@jacky: Transgender, cisalpine, and trans- in trans-isomers are all adjectives, not verbs, that's why transport doesn't have a corresponding "cisport" :)

Also I'm no historian but I think the term was coined by somebody who wasn't trans (not sure what word is ok to use here sorry?), older trans people seemed to use "natal" or "genetic" as an antonym for trans.

@rocket: most trans people would be fine with that, it's the whole "you're not even a trans woman you're a MAN use that label" that's grating in my experience :)

LangCleg · 01/08/2018 16:04

NO.

nauticant · 01/08/2018 16:03

cis does have meaning as a result of usage. It's how language works.

However, if women adopt it they are accepting that they identify with the gender stereotype associated with their sex in order to be considered as women. If they don't, they're non-women in some impossible to define way.

Some women might accept the label but anyone with any awareness of what that means would reject cis as being a gift to potential oppressors.

VickyEadie · 01/08/2018 16:03

I wasn't "assigned" anything at birth. Like everyone else, my sex was observed and recorded.

noeffingidea · 01/08/2018 16:00

No, we couldn't. 'Reclaiming' it would just be the same as accepting it.
The only thing to do is push back every single time by politely correcting them and informing them that woman is the correct word to describe an adult human female.

JackyHolyoake · 01/08/2018 15:58

rocketpocket

'Cis' has no meaning when applied to humanity. It is a Latin term applied in geography and in molecular chemistry. It is yet another misappropriation by the trans community.

Could we reclaim "cis"?
QueasySqueezy · 01/08/2018 15:57

I don’t identify with the gender stereotypes associated with my sex. They’re pretty negative and hugely damaging to women in many aspects of our lives.

So no, I’m not a cis woman, but I am a woman.

Call me a derogatory name + woman and no, I’m going to be offended, whether it’s cis woman, fat woman etc. It is not a name I wish to reclaim.

Swipe left for the next trending thread