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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Feminism: chat

Original poster

Can you explain to me what a cis woman is? Am I one?

175 replies

WaitrosePigeon · 04/07/2018 16:39

Sorry, this must sound stupid. I’m confused as to what cis woman means. I was born female. I’m just a woman aren’t I?

OP posts:
hungryhippie · 04/07/2018 16:42

It doesnt mean anything, its a made up term.
You are and adult female human, therefore a Woman.

Macareaux · 04/07/2018 16:43

There is no such thing as a cis woman.

thewitchofwentworth · 04/07/2018 16:45

Current trans rhetoric suggests that a woman is someone who was born male but now identifies as a woman, while those of us who were born female are now "cis wowen" and can't call ourselves women any more.

GahWhatever · 04/07/2018 16:46

cis just means aligned; so if you were born with a female body and believe yourself to be a woman then the trans folk would describe you as cis-woman to show you weren't trans. It's the same as someone calling transwomen men: stating a biological fact even if it is distressing/insulting to them.
Thus to either side of the divide (at the most extreme ends) cis-women is insulting to women and referring to transwomen as men is insulting to transwomen.

Dhalandchips · 04/07/2018 16:48

Codswallop

AnnUnderTheFryingPan · 04/07/2018 16:49

Bollocks, that’s what it is.

Made up bollocks.

misscockerspaniel · 04/07/2018 16:51

You are female therefore you are a woman. No need for any prefix (especially one that is used as a slur).

UglyCathKidstonBag · 04/07/2018 16:54

It is bollocks.
Cis is not a useful prefix unless perhaps you happen to be an isomer.

heresyandwitchcraft · 04/07/2018 16:56

You're not being stupid. The prefix "cis" is merely an addendum to the word woman, because "trans women" needed a way to refer to natal women. So they picked up a term from chemistry (I believe), so that instead of saying trans women (who were born male) and women (who were born female) they can now claim we are all in the same category of women. The truth is that "trans" is a denotation that someone was born as the opposite sex of the gender they are stating they are, and "cis" denotes that the person's sex at birth is actually the same as the gender they say they are. So "cis" is actually completely superfluous. It's like saying "woman woman."
It's also only really applicable if you believe in gender ideology, which I don't. I don't think I have a "gender identity." I don't feel like a gender at all. "Cis" also implies you somehow have chosen to match with the "feminine social role," which I would argue most females really don't. (And the same goes for males)

FermatsTheorem · 04/07/2018 16:57

According to Stonewall, being "cis" means my sex and gender line up. Since I have always experienced gender as an oppressive set of sexist stereotypes which demean and materially disadvantage me (up to and including having to take an employer to court for equal pay), to describe me as "cis" in this sense is to ask me to embrace and identify with my own oppression.

I do not. Anyone who wants to call me "cis" is, in effect saying "bitch, repeat after me: back in your box." They can go fuck themselves.

Anyone who says it's a neutral term after repeatedly being told by the people they're applying it to just how offensive it is, is akin to the sort of racist who tries to claim that the P word is just an abbreviation for the nationality in question. They can also go fuck themselves.

Janie143 · 04/07/2018 16:57

I don't know anyone who's gender 100% aligns with their sex. Is everyone trans

AssassinatedBeauty · 04/07/2018 16:59

What is with the use of the word "folk" all the time as well? What's wrong with just people?

I'm not "aligned" with the gender identity imposed on natal women, so I'm not "cis".

EmpressWeaponisedClitoris · 04/07/2018 16:59

A c*s woman would be one who met the feminine sex-role stereotype & accepted her place in the gender hierarchy. Think the Gileadan ideal or a surrendered wife.

Interestingly, if you look at Stonewall's definition of trans, which comes down to anybody who doesn't meet the social stereotypes associated with their sex, it covers pretty much everyone. Working woman? Dad who does childcare? Woman into sports / DIY? Bloke with some pink shirts / long hair? Lesbian / gay / bi?

You get the idea...

Woman / female isn't something you believe you are or identify as. It's just a term for the human sex with XX chromosomes & vulvas. It doesn't require a prefix.

Baroquehavoc · 04/07/2018 17:00

cis just means aligned; so if you were born with a female body and believe yourself to be a woman then the trans folk would describe you as cis-woman to show you weren't trans.

We have to rename ourselves because male people, who believe that they are women, want the word woman.

I have no idea why I would ever need to describe myself as not trans, but transpeople think I do. Confused

IamXXHearMeRoar · 04/07/2018 17:02

It's a nonsense phrase made up as part of a control mechanism used by abusive men to perpetrate misogyny.

There is no such thing and be sure to let people know this.

Janie143 · 04/07/2018 17:03

Trans and cis are from chemistry as previously stated As it happens that trans is also short for transition and words beginning with trans we can't say anymore. So it has been co-opted

Popchyk · 04/07/2018 17:12

Nobody ever talks about cis men, do they? Nope.

Jeremy Corbyn is leader of the Labour Party and a cis man.

Jamie Oliver is a cis man who cooks. Wait, hang on cooking is a tick on the female gender chart so maybe he's not terribly cis after all.

Can you have degrees of cis? That will be the next thing, no doubt. Demi cis? Sounds like a wine bar in Billericay.

UglyCathKidstonBag · 04/07/2018 17:12

I don't know anyone who's gender 100% aligns with their sex. Is everyone trans

Some people call it having a personality.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 04/07/2018 17:17

I agree with the posters who have said that cis is a prefix that is being foisted onto women by trans activists, so that trans women can have the word woman.

To me, it is as if a badminton player has decided they want to switch to tennis - but that tennis has to be renamed to suit them, and the original tennis players can’t simply call themselves tennis players any more. The badminton players are the real tennis players whilst the others are just cis tennis players.

MyOtherUserNameIsAUnicorn · 04/07/2018 17:19

Tautological asinine nonsense. Hmm

MyOtherUserNameIsAUnicorn · 04/07/2018 17:20

That is, c*s as a prefix, not the sensible, informed responses that precede me.

RiverTam · 04/07/2018 17:21

Being born female and believing yourself to be a woman is an oxymoron, surely - if you’re born female you ARE a woman (an adult human female), right? Unless your a female child, in which case you’re a girl.

I understood it to ‘mean’ that you buy into the gender stereotype associated with your sex. Well, I don’t. I’m not cis, I’m not trans, I’m a woman with no prefix needed.

Racecardriver · 04/07/2018 17:21

A cis woman is a nirnsl woman. Not sure why the term is necessary really. The only reasonable assumption is that if you are a woman you always have been.

MyOtherUserNameIsAUnicorn · 04/07/2018 17:22

Orwellian

Can you explain to me what a cis woman is? Am I one?
DickTERFin · 04/07/2018 17:29

cis just means aligned; so if you were born with a female body and believe yourself to be a woman then the trans folk would describe you as cis-woman to show you weren't trans.

I’m female. I don’t believe myself to be a women though - belief indicates lack of empirical evidence. I know I’m a women because I meet the criteria for the definition.

My personality and preferences are by-the-by and do not need to be referenced by a prefix.

Cis is just a way of men co-opting the word woman.

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