Quote:
Originally posted by
Positwist
You don't use the term for yourself because we don't give names to dominant groups. Said another way, you don't HAVE to identify as cis-gendered; everyone assumes you are.
Within queer communities, we use "cis-gendered"
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You don't use the term for yourself because we don't give names to dominant groups. Said another way, you don't HAVE to identify as cis-gendered; everyone assumes you are.
Within queer communities, we use "cis-gendered" because we can't assume we know the sex/gender/orientation of the people around us. Think of it as a term cis and straight folks use as a courtesy to those of us who have attach labels to ourselves to be understood.
I do understand your concern, though. If it helps any, there are zero negative connotations associated with the term "cis-gendered."
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Honestly, "cis" doesn't bother me.
There's a lot that can be said about your post. It's very insightful and shows the dangers in assuming labels, self-ascribed or not. I really hope you don't see this as an attack or anything. It's really hard to convey tone in text, but that's an assumption we can all safely make!
"You don't use the term for yourself because we don't give names to dominant groups. Said another way, you don't HAVE to identify as cis-gendered; everyone assumes you are."
I'm pretty sure I get what you're saying, but it could easily be misconstrued as "you don't have to give yourself a label, we've given you one already because we're assuming you're straight." or "You don't have to give yourself one, because we've already done that."
I know you're being helpful and that's totally cool. But this really shows how volatile labels can be and why I'd rather not mess with them. It's easily a slippery slope.
