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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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Original poster

Cis as a slur

153 replies

CircleSquareCircleSquare · 09/04/2018 20:32

I am sick to the back teeth of being called a cis woman or just cis. I don’t need a prefix.

Is there anyway we can campaign for this to become some kind of slur? It is so othering, incredibly demeaning, unnecessary and offensive.

OP posts:
changeypants · 09/04/2018 20:46

I agree. I do not identify as cis because I do not identify with the gender role of being a woman which can only be understood as the stereotypical one. Of the aspects of the stereotype that I do perform, many are not performed by choice but for survival - either of myself or of family members. That is what makes being told to accept cis so insulting. It's like telling a bird with clipped wings that it's free just because you can't see a cage.

Mouthtrousersafrocknowandthen · 09/04/2018 20:49

I'm sorry people are using that term here.

Noqonterf · 09/04/2018 20:51

It is offensive and no doubt intended to be so.

Original poster
CircleSquareCircleSquare · 09/04/2018 20:51

I reject gender and I reject the term “cis”.

OP posts:
Mum2jenny · 09/04/2018 20:52

Me too, Circle

Icantreachthepretzels · 09/04/2018 20:54

pretty sure it's already a slur in some circles. Maybe not the way you meant it though...

Cis as a slur
Cis as a slur
Original poster
CircleSquareCircleSquare · 09/04/2018 20:55

Yep I find those badges contribute to its use as a slurz

OP posts:
Babdoc · 09/04/2018 20:56

I object to the term cis for two reasons. Firstly, as PPs have pointed out, it refers to the sexist gender stereotype of a woman, which no feminist worth her salt would agree with or "identify" with.
Secondly, using a prefix of any sort implies that there are various other sorts of "women". Such as so called "transwomen". This is nonsense.
There is only one kind of woman. The sort with XX chromosomes and female genitalia. "Transwomen", so called, are actually men, with XY chromosomes, male genitalia, and a problem with gender dysphoria.
Words have meanings. And "woman" has only one.

LineyGynae · 09/04/2018 20:56

It's a sexist term. Thus, a problem. Thus, a slur when knowingly used as part of a discourse to attempt to demean and/or criticise women.

Sparctopus · 09/04/2018 21:22

Didn't a certain Labour women's officer have a secret Facebook group called "Down with Cis"? (Despite having been elected mainly by people they would describe as "cis"...)

But, no, it's not meant to be offensive at all Hmm

Original poster
CircleSquareCircleSquare · 09/04/2018 21:51

So how do we tackle this on a larger scale?
Every woman I know utterly rejects this unnecessary prefix, we could have quite a movement.

CIS DOES NOT EXIST.

OP posts:
LineyGynae · 09/04/2018 21:58

Exactly, CIS is a trans-activist fantasy.

NKFell · 09/04/2018 22:05

I completely reject the term ‘cis’. I’m simply a woman due to the fact I’m an adult female human being.

Gender is a load of crap to uphold outdated stereotypes.

Mouthtrousersafrocknowandthen · 09/04/2018 22:06

CircleSquareCircleSquare

To be accurate it would have to be

_ DOES NOT EXIST

(tbugrin)

Original poster
CircleSquareCircleSquare · 09/04/2018 22:06

Grin mouth

OP posts:
TroubledTribble28 · 09/04/2018 22:10

I reject cis and I only ever see it used as a slur. I'm not a subsect of woman, I'm just plain old woman. On account of my lack of penis and xy chromosomes. The self confessed cispeople tras make me Confused

Caramina · 09/04/2018 22:11

I'm fairly new to mn and I hadn't heard the term until I joined here. Still not sure where it comes from/it's background. Have I been living under a rock?

Anyway, I don't like the term. It's been unnecessarily invented and I don't see the necessity.

LangCleg · 09/04/2018 22:18

I reserve the right to define myself - as is, apparently, the newest and most important human right.

I am a woman. And I am not cis.

crispbuttyfan · 09/04/2018 22:33

Some women also embrace the term cis.

www.patheos.com/blogs/pantheon/2012/07/i-am-a-cis-woman/

"I am a cis-woman as much as I am a straight woman, a white woman, a fat woman or a woman who sometimes dyes her hair a deep pink color. And I am not merely ok with that, I am comforted by the term"

Jayceedove · 09/04/2018 22:38

I am a trans woman and first heard this daft word a year or so ago and have refused to use it as I think it is a ridiculous invention that is quite unnecessary. And if it is unnecessary then it has to have an ulterior motive as I don't see any way it is needed for clarity.

You are either trans or you are not. So trans woman / woman is perfectly fine when you are arguing over any differences.

I pointed that out but got told that if we were going to call ourselves trans women (as I just did without thinking it was in any way demeaning myself) then everyone else had to have a prefix too. Or it singled us out.

Well we are the ones that need to be singled out as far as I can see.

I mean if you come from Timbuktu you are a Timbuktu woman. You don't need another word to describe anyone who doesn't and I have not seen anyone try because it confuses rather than clarifies.

And if any word manages that it is not helping.

Trans is perfectly fine to tell anyone what you mean.

Plus my mum WAS a Cis woman in the only sense I will ever use it.

She worked for the Coop Insurance Society - at the CIS building in Manchester.

She would have found this hilarious. I just think it shows overthinking that seems too common in some places.

Battleax · 09/04/2018 22:45

#preferredprefixes

??

Original poster
CircleSquareCircleSquare · 09/04/2018 22:47

My #preferredprefix is no prefix.

OP posts:
Battleax · 09/04/2018 22:48

That works.

LauraRoslin · 09/04/2018 22:49

It comes from Latin; it's a prefix meaning originally meaning "on this side".

Noqonterf · 09/04/2018 22:50

#preferredprefixes

None.