There have been a myriad of
complaints over the past year, regarding the use of the word cisgender to define non trans people.
While so many of our trans siblings lay dead in pools of blood in
Brazil, trans women of color are being murdered at
record rates here in the USA, and transphobia runs rampant, both online and off in this society, these complaints sound not only unwarranted, but just plain wrong.
The word cisgender has been in use for decades,
if not longer, however, it was only recently that it was added to the 'official' language of the
Oxford dictionary.
Our language is always evolving and changing with the times.
It is really the best descriptive
available for non-trans people, as it replaces many highly problematic terms, such as 'normal', 'regular' and 'biological', which actually ARE offensive and reinforce marginalizing trans people.
Resistance from cisgender people being labelled as cisgender makes about as much sense as heterosexual / straight people taking issue at being called heterosexual / straight.
While it is never okay to make assumptions on another persons gender IDENTITY, regardless of their gender EXPRESSION, once you learn there is a difference, it is really not all that difficult to understand.
If you are part of the trans umbrella, then no, you are actually not cisgender.
We've seen many "male assigned at birth" queer people also seem somewhat reluctant to 'give up' their perceived male privilege to accept themselves and identify as trans, which is
evidenced in the multitude of -later in life- transition ratios
We have also known many, including LGBTQ folx, who argue that we are creating a division / binary between trans and cis people (incorrect, as again, there is still a spectrum of identities and expressions within both categories), or that 'don't need labels', 'people are people', and we are 'all human'.
Okay, that is a lovely theory, and for obvious reasoning, seems to nearly always come directly from cis white folx, but let us delve into that for a moment.
Not too long ago, there were no common words in our language to describe homosexuals / gay men, and certainly not lesbians. The word 'heterosexual' was unheard of, and instead, gay and lesbian people had no
language in which to define themselves, find one another, or develop any sense community.
Gay and lesbian (cisgender) people, were often isolated, and lived in secret, often thinking they were just alone in the world and 'abnormal'
A huge change and societal impact began as the "Gay liberation" movement brought visibility and with it new terminology in which to identify gay people and communities.
Without developing some common terminology for gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, and queer folx, there would have been no way to establish a movement, community, or even the very neighborhoods, bookstores, and bars catering to these people, who, with no apparent sense of history and hypocrisy, are now, being resistant to adapting to trans terminology, as we continue to struggle towards our own liberation.
While some labels can indeed seem unnecessary and restrictive, a world devoid of adjectives and labels with which to identify is not evolution, but rather, a knee jerk reaction of resistance to our ever changing landscape of language.
There are very few cases of 'cis' being used as an insult toward cisgender people, and when it has been done, it has usually been in retaliation and as a defense of the majority of the culture that has silenced and ridiculed trans lives into this place of anger and frustration.
If you do not understand why trans people, and especially trans women of color would be angry, fearful, and frustrated, then perhaps you have not been paying any attention to the voices that have been asking politely, to simply be able to live, for so long.
Expecting or demanding that any person from an oppressed population must always treat the oppressive class politely or respectfully, is nothing more than another case of tone policing and respectability politics, which we addressed
here two weeks ago.
Special thanks to TSER for the excellent info graphics
