CIS

[Delivery]

Just read an article about the Supreme Court judgement today. It repeatedly refers to Cis women. I get so unbelievably annoyed by that term.

I am not a ‘Cis’ woman. I just hate the term. If you want to be a trans woman, fine. That’s what you are. Don’t make me the other side of your imaginary coin. Don’t make me call myself something I’m not. Don’t make me part of your ‘We’re all just at various points on the woman spectrum’ nonsense.

There are women. And there are trans women. Two entirely different things.

And in order to be a trans woman, you have to be a man first and foremost.

Anyway the world has gone completely insane.

No. Cis woman has been used to describe male people who were incorrectly recorded as being female at birth.

It is a term that has been taken from
it original meaning in science and incorrectly applied to humans. It was never fit for purpose.

Not only that it forces people who don’t believe in gender identity theory into category that they don’t belong. Labelling people ‘cis’ is not neutral. It is categorising everyone as believing in gender identities. That is inherently offensive

Well, I feel as though I am female. I am also biologically a woman. I definitely have no sense that I’m in the wrong body.

Some people definitely have the subjective feeling that they are male or masculine. Even though they are biologically a woman. It’s a real phenomenon. That’s why they might transition. Doesn’t make them biologically male, but it might make them feel better about themselves day to day.

If anyone wants to add a prefix to “woman” for me I’m going to demand that it’s the word “real”.

CIS is a slur.

No it doesn’t. Only if you believe in gender identity theory and the post modern ‘if you say you are something then you are’.

many of us don’t fit into sex stereotypes. Not conforming to how you perceive society views your sex doesn’t make you a different gender. It makes you a non conforming person within your biological sex category.

That’s not explaining what gender is, or what gender identity is though.

But no one can conceivably be born in the ‘wrong body’. There is no way that this can be true.

I don’t think anything is inherently offensive.

I also think this discussion is being a little pedantic with semantics.

If you don’t like the term cis woman, just say biological woman. They mean the same thing in modern lingo. I usually say woman, or biological woman if some clarification is needed.

In the rare case that somebody has female external genitalia, but male DNA, leading them to be recorded female at birth, I think the situation is nuanced. I’m not sure what the correct term for those people would be. I think we need to be a little bit flexible for truly intersex people like that.

Hopefully we will see less of this now, now that the courts have determined that trans women are not women, that leaves us with the term women. Trans women should not be referred to as women.

It’s just a turn of phrase. I’m not saying anyone is literally born in the wrong body. However, some people have the subjective experience of being a different gender from their actual biological sex, and therefore feel as though they are in the wrong body. That’s why they might take steps to make their body look physically more like the gender they feel.

If, like most people, you DON’T feel that way (i.e. you do not feel a different gender from your biological sex) then you could be described as cis. However, you don’t have to use the term if it offends you.

I find it easy to be bugged by a wide range of things. This is merely one of them.

Also on the list: people who seem to think they have the right to tel us others they SHOULDN'T be 'bugged' by specific things because THEY aren't.

*they problem

Ok, well, Oxford Dictionary defines gender identity as “a person's innate sense of their gender.” That is my understanding of it too.

What do you think is happening when somebody says they feel a different gender from their biological sex? Do you think they’re just lying about how they feel? I don’t think they’re lying. I think they really feel that way, because that is just how their brains are wired, or maybe due to the balance or hormones or chemicals in their body, etc. There has to be a term to define or explain this phenomenon, surely? Otherwise, it would be very hard to talk about or refer to.

That's circular - I'm a woman, so any feelings I have are woman feelings, therefore I feel like a woman...

I am a woman due to my sex and age. I feel like myself, and have no idea how other people feel internally, no matter their sex, so I can't logically compare those feelings and see if they are the same.

I do not need to identify as a woman, I am clearly identified as one, and my feelings about that are entirely irrelevant.

As I don't have a gender identity, I am not cis. I will accept 'real' or 'actual' if you decide that I absolutely need a modifier on woman.

How can you have an innate sense of something if you can’t define what that something is?

Some people think they're jesus or napoleon. Some people think they're good singers, or that they look awesome in flares. People think all sorts of things that might not be true.

If it's an innate identity, what happens if I'm asleep or unconscious? Am I allowed to be just a woman then? Since if I'm not thinking, how can I be feeling like a woman?

I think that not conforming to gender stereotypes and actually feeling like a different gender from your biological sex are different things.

I don’t conform to many female gender stereotypes. I have many characteristics that are more commonly associated with men. But I still don’t feel like a man.

Gender isn't real.

Some people feel profoundly uncomfortable with their biological sex.

In some cases this is most likely internalised homophobia. In other cases it may be a trauma response to sexual assault. In other cases it may be linked to autism. In some cases it may defy explanation.

Some men are sexually aroused by the thought of themselves as women. This is a paraphilia and there is a scientific name for it.

Some women and girls dislike all things feminine and prefer stereotypically masculine clothing, haircuts and hobbies. In previous generations they would have been called tomboys and left in peace to grow out of it (or not grow out of it). Now they are being encouraged to believe they are boys, and pushed towards irreversible medical interventions.

But gender is a social construct, which is a fancy way of saying it is silly made up nonsense.

Sex is real.

Saying someone's gender is different to their sex is a bit like saying their eye colour doesn't match their star sign. Well, no, of course it doesn't. Why on earth would it?

Yep - I find it intolerable. Women should be women and anyone who wants to define themselves as a woman or changed sex from birth should have the additional words or terms applied of their choosing.

As I said before, there is no such thing as being a different gender from your biological sex.

Being "cisgender" is actually best described as "not having a mental disorder or paraphilia which makes someone want to live as the opposite sex".

How the hell is that an identity?

In case anyone is hovering over the report button, "mental disorder" is the terminology used by the World Health Organisation. It is not intended to be a slur.

All I think when I see cis in terms of cis and trans is stereoisomers. I was a chemistry teacher over 10 years ago.

I am not a cis woman, I’m a woman.

I really don't like the term cis, I would probably warm to it, if it were to be used to protect women and girls e.g. cis women only changing rooms. Tbh female changing rooms should be clear enough, but it would make clear to transwomen that still pose a male risk to women that they need to clearly use facilities for their sex not gender

If this happened, you can bet your life that trans women would start identifying as cis women.

So how does this fit with being born a man and you “are a woman” you are a trans woman? I feel there may be a double standard coming somewhere but await your clarification