It’s really noticeable on FWR at the moment that there’s a big influx (as there periodically is) of posters derailing threads with sealioning, DARVO etc. and it always seems to coincide with times when there are critical news stories about genderism.
Anyway, to bring it back to the thread topic. I’m reposting something below that I posted on a similar thread about gender labels, which popped up on my Tumblr feed yesterday morning (sorry I can’t seem to copy the rabbit graphic that goes with it):
“[Image description: Five rabbits are gathered under an umbrella. The umbrella is coloured like the aromantic flag on the outside. On the inside it is coloured like the frayromantic, demiromantic, lithoromantic, recipromantic, and aroflux flags. The first rabbit is wearing an aromantic allosexual shirt, the second is wearing a nebularomantic shirt, the third one (who is holding the umbrella) is wearing an aromantic shirt, the fourth one is wearing an oriented aromantic asexual shirt, and the fifth one is wearing a cupioromantic shirt. End description.]
There are a lot of ways to be aromantic.”
I mean, come on. [—Just to save you the effort of looking it up, “Lithromanticism (also known as akoiromantic or apromantic) is a romantic orientation on the aromantic spectrum. Lithromanticism describes romantic attraction without the desire for reciprocation. Lithromantic experiences may include: Feeling romantic attraction that fades upon being reciprocated.”]
There’s plenty more all over youth social media where this came from. Gender identity is about all these labels like agender, aro etc. (Or microlabels as they’re called). But these labels are hardly great progressive vehicles of sexual freedom for historically deeply oppressed sexual minorities who have now found a way to live their true identities, are they now?
Has anyone in history ever fought for their civil rights not to be criminalised, shunned or socially marginalised for their inner identity of “going off your crushes when they start liking you back”? Or fit being “cupioromantic” (which is the opposite?)
All this rhetoric about how trans people are hugely oppressed by women being “mean” on Mumsnet misses the entire point. There are quite clearly whole tranches of gender ideology which are deeply silly and ridiculous.
The OP and others are perfectly well allowed to gently mock them, and the idea that making fun of gender labels like being agender or Cassgender or “cupioromantic” et al is terrible dreadful violence to transpeople is simply ridiculous.
Moreover, it’s likely to turn out to be hugely counterproductive, since we can all see with our own eyes that much of the gender label/identity bandwagon is completely risible.
If you really want to stand up for trans people, you could hop on Twitter or Tumblr and maybe suggest to them that their social justice cause is not well advanced by hopping up and down with manufactured outrage, hyperbole, name calling and trying to shame others into not speaking about the whole edifice.