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.

The criteria by which a male bodied person identifying as a woman understands themself to be a woman, and by which I understand myself to be a woman, are mutually exclusive.

I understand myself to be a woman because that is (was) the word for people with a female body.

A transwoman uses a different criteria - a gender identity, but I don’t know what that is as I don’t have one. I don’t have anything to “identify” with or against.

Do you see the problem? If one of us is a woman, the other cannot be.

It's not just a case of "cis means not trans", if I were to call myself cis it means implicitly accepting for myself a definition of womanhood that I simply do not meet.

If womanhood is redefined as a stated of mind, so it can include male bodied people, it excludes me.

No need to be patronising. Trust me, I really do get it. I’m a very well-educated person in a high paying job.

There is no evil trans-movement trying to eradicate women and women’s spaces. There are people born into the wrong bodies, who are terribly unhappy who, thanks to various means, are able to become who they want they want to be, and that makes them happy.

What impact does it really have on everyone else’s life? Very little. I’d rather people around me be able to be happy and identify as whatever they want than be unhappy all their lives. If that means I have to tick ‘cis woman’ on some poxy form once a year, then so be it.

I respect your opinion, but in my opinion, there really isn’t any risk here.

edited for typo

do people understand that cis is a Latin prefix 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 I don’t know what’s more irritating - the transphobia or a complete lack of understanding of how the English language works. Your transphobia makes you look bigoted and stupid! Wahoo!

I hate this shit. Cis and trans are only opposites if you're talking about chemistry. When you allow women to be analogised to geometric isomers, you open the door to all sorts of sloppy thinking, as we have seen.

ok 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

What on earth are you talking about? Woman is the word for an adult human female, as ewe is the name for an adult female sheep. It's not a descriptor for gender, it's a descriptor for sex and always has been.

In order to be cis or trans you must have a gender identity. If, like many of us, you do not have a gender identity then you are neither cis nor trans.

Cis is a Latin prefix meaning to be on the same side as, rather than the opposite of. It’s been hijacked as a prefix to ‘woman’ to indicate that their internal sense of gender corresponds with the sex identified at birth. It’s totally unnecessary and utterly offensive. A woman is a woman, no prefixes necessary.

Haha, the classic "educate yourselves".

I won't, and most other people won't cause it's absolute nonsense and the product of a sick society.

Nobody cares.

Sod off. I am no cis. I am a woman. End of. I don't need no prefix.

Does it say Cis male?

I dont call myself “cis” for the same reason I do t call myself a heretic - I don’t believe in your religion.

call yourself what you want but I am under no obligation to agree with you, to affirm your belief or use the language of your religion or cult

Oops. Used a double negative. I do not need a prefix...

The difference being sheep don’t have gender? You understand that right?

Language is changing to make marginalised people more visible - this is a good thing. It’s paves the way for stopping hate crime, it helps us teach our children kindness and respect, it makes our society a more tolerant place to be.

woman is a descriptor for gender, female is a descriptor for sex. Isn’t it amazing that the language we use can have such an impact on the kindness we exhibit!

do people understand that cis is a Latin prefix

Yes, and we also understand that it's being misused in this instance.

What cliche are you going to trot out next? That some people are 'intersex'? Clownfish?

It’s a Latin prefix meaning on the same side as. Utterly unnecessary to prefix it to the word ‘woman’ There is no transphobia or bigotry here. Just a simple understanding that ‘woman’ is a descriptor for sex, not gender.

transphobic

Who on here has an irrational fear of trans?

"people born in wrong bodies" That assumes the fact that there is a gendered soul that exists separate from our bodies. It's nonsense, akin to a religious belief, we are our bodies, there is no other way to be. It's also deemed by some to be transphobic to say this as there is no assumption that a trans person should feel this way. A large number of males who identify as trans are AGP, like Debbie Hayton, google it if you are unaware basically it's a kink. They get a sexual thrill out of presenting as women.

'What impact does it have on peoples life' - you say you are intelligent and I have no reason to believe that this is not true but you must have your head in the sand if you believe it has no impact on women's spaces and sport.

I ticked every single religion, sex, gender and race boxes during my last work survey as I didn’t want to give the information. Hopefully it skewed all their stats!

Transgender women are men. You do women a huge disservice by not acknowledging that to be the case.

Good grief. No, woman is not a gender. And lots of humans don't have a gender either.

And the "beefeater kiiiind" mantra. Which is always entirely one way.

And little by little we end up with words having no meaning. So a woman is anyone who says they are. If we don't stand up and say we don't agree with it that's the way it goes. And then the term will be meaningless. And wholly inaccurate.

The Latin prefix cis means "this side of". So if you add the prefix cis to woman you are creating a word that means "this side of woman" and if you add the prefix trans to woman you are creating a word that means "the other side of woman".

I'm not sure which is more irritating re those who use the terms - the lack of understanding or the arrogance in insisting that it makes sense linguistically.

I’d click other or prefer not to say. That’s the right option if none of them apply to you.

So you think it’s ‘kind’ to prefix the word ‘woman’ with ‘cis’ despite the fact that so many women are offended by it ?