Survey at work using the term cis woman

[SuzanneRogers]

So I filled all the survey, very happy at work, public secror.
Note that this survey is outsourced by another survey organisation.

Then I come to the last bit please describe your role in the organisation, did that, and then how would you describe your sex or gender?

( Can’t remember exactly how the question was phrased )but the only option for women was “cis woman.”

Quite cross about this and I’m not sure how to best articulate this to my managers who, to be fair never use this term and will not have had any input to designing the survey. Any input welcome.

So?

Nope just fact!

Language is an evolving concept

It evolves naturally, not just because a minority of loud, entitled voices want people to redefine common terms.

Some judges are about to decide what a woman is, so we're all good ...

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5180156-lord-reed-how-we-will-decide-what-constitutes-a-woman

Why would anyone object to the words trans if that is what they are?

Ask them

To which I would ask, exactly what are these people identifying as?

True. This kind of artificial, imposed evolution (as opposed to the organic, Darwinian necessity spanning decades) is most familiar in the context of the forcible colonialist removal of a native population's language to neuter their sense of identity as a distinct group worthy of their own words and respect.

Well If a significant % of the population started calling themselves unicorns and that label described a particular group of people with some shared characteristics, then yes data collectors would almost certainly want to add that category .

So if women won’t understand and tick the cis box, then how about we just have “woman (not trans)”? Would that work for you?

Er... what? That's really odd

I know what you mean in the context of the poster you quoted, but isn't the problem that unlike "sex" - which does have a scientific basis - there is generally considered these days to be no scientific basis for the concept of "race"?

In fact "race" could be considered to be as much a social or cultural construct as "gender" or "trans".

It's been superseded by "ethnicity" - which I suppose is just as much a social or cultural construct as "race" - or "gender" for that matter...

NB - I'm certainly not arguing that the concept of gender identity is anything other than a load of bolleaux. It is a load of bolleaux and has no foundation in reality whatsoever whereas sex is real and has a scientific foundation.

Why would you object to the word cis if that is what you are?

An adult human female

“So?”
Do you think it’s ok to be transphobic?

Language evolves because people using it change its meaning

Gay changed meaning because of what would be described as "a minority of loud, entitled voices"

Young people redefine terms all the time by using them differently

Think "spill the tea" meaning "give me the gossip" or "slay" meaning "boss it"

An adult human female

Then that's what "woman" means, and males by default don't qualify.

How many trans people have you met? Had a conversation with? Listened to their experience?

Several deeply unhappy middle-aged men, in fact. Straight, some had children.

It's not so much that the analogy doesn't make sense.

It's that the whole post doesn't make any sense...

I have and most seem very happy to call themselves trans - so the issue is just a storm in a teacup.

unless you are suggesting they should feel shame around the term trans? I certainly don’t think so, it is good to keep things simple, additionally takes into account it is sometimes fluid. It’s also important that stats and companies take into account the number of trans people for positive reasons.

Gay changed meaning because of what would be described as "a minority of loud, entitled voices"

So would you say a gay man can mean a man who is attracted to women?

Great so pleased give us a definition of woman because if you reject adult human female as it's meaning then we need an alternative.

Please note anyone who says/feels they are is not a definition because we need to know what the thing is they feel like/identify as.

Cis is meaningless to me.

My head hurts but I think I follow you

Ask the people who object I meant

"Why would you object to "heathen" if that is what you are"

"Why would you object to heretic if that is what you are"

"Why would you object to sinner if that is what you are"